973.77   The  Bastiles  of  the  North 
Sa5b 


LINCOLN  ROOM 

UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS 
LIBRARY 


MEMORIAL 

the  Class  of  1901 

founded  by 

HARLAN  HOYT  HORNER 

and 
HENRIETTA  CALHOUN  HORNER 


THE 


BASTILES  OF  THE  NORTH,  i 


BY  A  MEMBER 


MARYLAND  LEGISLATURE. 


"UNDER  NO  POSSIBLE  EMERGENCY,  NOT  EVEN  IN  INSURRECTION,  OR  AMID  THE 
THROES  OF  CIVIL  WAR,  can  this  Government  justify  official  interference  with  the 

t'ri.->-</nni    nf  S/i"  i-ll    or  of  the   Press,    ANY    MORE   THAN    IT   CAN    WITH   THE    FREEDOM    Or 

THE  BALLOT.    The  licentiousness  of  the  tongue  and  of  the  pen  is  A  MINOR  EVIL  COM- 
PARED WITH  THE  LiCENTiorsxESS  OF  ARBITRARY  POWER."— Franc!*  I'.  lidtir. 


BALTIMORE: 

PUBLISHED  BY  KELLY,  HEDIAN 

No.  174  BALTIMORE  STREET. 
1863. 


THE 


BASTILES  OF  THE  NORTH. 


BY  A  MEMBER 


OF   THE 


MARYLAND  LEGISLATURE. 


"UNDER  NO  POSSIBLE  EMERGENCY,  NOT  EVEN  IN  INSURRECTION,  OR  AMID  THE 
THROES  OF  CIVIL  WAR,  can  this  Government  justify  official  interference  with  the 
Freedom  of  Speech  or  of  the  Press,  ANY  MORE  THAN  IT  CAN  WITH  THE  FREEDOM  OF 
THE  BALLOT.  The  licentiousness  of  the  tongue  and  of  the  pen  is  A  MINOR  EVIL  COM- 
PARED WITH  THE  LICENTIOUSNESS  OF  ARBITRARY  POWER."— Francis  P.  flair. 


BALTIMORE: 

PUBLISHED  BY  KELLY,  HEDIAN  &  PIET, 

No.  174  BALTIMORE  STREET. 
1863. 


W.  M.  INNES'  STEAM  BOOK  PRESSES,  ADAMS  EXPRESS  BUILDING,  164  BALTIMORE  ST. 


O..H 


Partly  to  while  away  the  tedious  hours  of  imprisonment, 
and  partly  to  give  my  wife  and  children,  on  my  return, 
some  idea  of  the  daily  domestic  routine  of  military  prison 
life,  but  with  no  expectation  or  intention  of  publication, 
this  Journal  was  written. 

The  reader  will  doubtless  say  it  should  have  been  re- 
written for  publication.  Such  was  the  writer's  opinion, 
but  friends  who  read  the  original,  seemed  to  think  it  pre- 
ferable, as  it  was  written  day  by  day,  without  alteration  or 
embellishment. 

The  writer  was  early  taught  to  adapt  himself  to  what- 
ever circumstances  he  might  be  placed  in,  and  not  to  com- 
plain unnecessarily  of  what  he  could  neither  forsee  nor 
prevent ;  hence  his  experience  cannot  be  taken  as  a  speci- 
men of  the  sufferings  of  others  differently  constituted,  or 
who  had  not  the  means  available  to  mitigate  the  rigor, 
often  amounting  to  brutality,  which  the  authorities  at 
Washington  thought  proper  to  exercise  towards  their 
"  State  Prisoners" — a  term  hitherto  happily  unknown  in 
this  country,  the  very  sound  of  which  instinctively  carries 
us  to  Italy  and  Austria,  or  the  blackest  period  in  the  his- 
tory of  France. 

When  Mr.  S'eward  determined  by  a  coup  d'etat  to  extin- 
guish the  sovereignty  of  the  State  of  Maryland,  and  estab- 
lish a  military  government  in  its  stead,  it  became  necessa- 
ry to  manufacture  some  plausible  excuse  or  reason  for  the 
outrage,  this  was  that  the  Government  had  positive  infor- 


mation  that  the  Legislature  had  determined  to  pass  an  act 
of  secession,  when  it  should  next  meet  in  Frederick,  and 
it  even  pretended  it  had  secured  a  copy  of  the  aforesaid  in- 
tended act,  in  the  hand-writing  of  one  of  the  memhers. 
This  was  duly  heralded  in  all  the  "Loyal"  newspapers, 
and  no  doubt,  to  some  extent,  believed  in  the  Northern 
States  ;  the  writer  will  not  suppose  for  a  moment  that  any 
Marylander  of  ordinary  common  sense  did  not  know,  from 
the  geographical  situation  of  the  State,  that  successful 
secession  was  an  impossibility,  except  by  future  peaceable 
measures,  whatever  might  be  the  wishes  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, and  this  view  was  as  well  understood  in  the  South  as 
here. 

To  those  who  may  have  attached  credence  to  such  a 
story,  the  writer  will  say,  that  at  no  time,  and  under  no 
circumstances,  was  it  the  desire  or  intention  of  the  Legis- 
lature of  Maryland  (with  the  exception  of  one  solitary 
member,)  to  pass  an  Act  of  Secession,  or  any  Act  looking 
to  it ;  while  a  large  majority  of  the  members,  from  birth, 
from  the  ties  of  blood,  of  habits  and  associations,  and  of 
material  interests,  sympathized  with  the  South  in  her 
efforts  to  resist  the  aggressions  of  the  North  against  her 
domestic  Institutions,  at  the  same  time  they  recognized 
the  fact  that  Maryland  was  a  State  in  the  Union,  and  while 
such,  bound  by  all  her  Constitutional  obligations  to  the 
Union-1— they  were  opposed  to  coercion  and  to  war,  because 
they  believed  Disunion  would  be  the  inevitable  result,  and 
were  not  disposed  to  take  an  active  part  in  measures  that, 
in  their  judgment,  would  certainly  destroy  the  Union,  and 
with  it  all  hopes  of  a  re-construction. 

The  real  cause,  however,  of  the  arrest  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, will  probably  be  found  in  the  letter  of  Lord  Lyons  to 
Lord  Kussell,  under  date  of  November  4, 1861 — and  submit- 
ted, with  other  official  correspondence,  to  Parliament  on 
its  meeting  in  February,  1862.  Lord  Lyons  wrote  that  he 
had  had  a  personal  interview  with  Mr.  Seward  in  relation 
to  arbitrary  arrests,  and  told  him  that  it  was  creating  a 
bad  feeling  in  England,  (there  were,  at  that  time,  a  large 


number  of  English  subjects  in  the  different  Forts,  most  of 
them  in  irons,  sailors  who  had  been  captured  in  running 
the  blockade.) 

Mr.  Seward  replied  that  "most  of  the  recent  arrests  were 
made  in  view  of  the  Maryland  elections,  which  would  be  over 
in  about  a  week,  when  he  expected  to  release  them. ' ' 

Of  this  fact,  the  Maryland  prisoners  were  well  aware, 
without  the  confession  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  confidently  ex- 
pected a  release  as  soon  as  the  military  authorities  had 
gone  through  the  form,  or  rather  the  farce  of  holding  an 
election  ;  in  this  they  were  doomed  to  disappointment. — 
The  Northern  "Loyal"  papers  insisted  on  our  continued  in- 
carceration as  a  means  of  "  striking  terror  into  the  hearts  of 
the  people  of  Maryland,"  while  a  class  of  people  in  Balti- 
more, generically  known  as  "PLUG  UGLIES,"  who  had  for 
years,  by  violence  and  fraud  ruled  the'  city  of  Baltimore, 
and  had  been  finally  put  down,  after  a  long  struggle  by 
the  reform  party,  suddenly  became  "  loyal"  men,  devoted 
to  the  Union,  protested  against  the  return  of  the  Balti- 
more prisoners,  as  likely  to  disturb  the  peace  and  loyalty 
of  the  city,  and  embarrass  the  local  government,  of  which, 
in  the  meantime,  they  had  taken  possession. 

This  class  of  people,  having  for  its  "standing  army"  the 
rowdy  clubs  of  Baltimore,  and  for  its  leaders,  a  few  men 
who  publicly  make  some  pretensions  to  decency,  and  pri- 
vately use  the  party  for  the  furtherance  of  their  pecuniary 
or  political  interest,  are  the  same  people,  who,  two  years 
ago,  when  Black  .Republicanism  was  not  as  prevalent  in 
Baltimore  as  at  present,  cut  off  the  coat  tails  of  the  pres- 
ent "Loyal"  collector  of  Baltimore,  and  compelled  him  to 
escape  by  jumping  out  the  window  of  the  room  where  he 
was  attempting  to  preside  over  a  republican  meeting  ;  who 
brick-batted  the  present  "Loyal"  assessor  of  the  city  for 
heading  a  small  "wide  awake"  procession  on  the  eve  of 
the  election,  and  were  the  most  active  in  arming  them- 
selves on  the  19th  and  20th  of  April,  1861,  to  drive  back 
the  "Abolitionists." 


When,  a  few  days  afterwards,  it  became  evident  that  the 
Government  had  the  power  to  hold  Baltimore  and  the  de- 
termination to  do  it,  true  to  their  instincts,  these  people 
immediately  became  converts  to  the  controlling  power  and 
were  accepted  by  the  Government  as  the  representatives  and 
exponents  of  the  "Loyal"  people  of  Baltimore,  and  found 
their  reward  in  the  distribution  of  the  public  offices  of  the 
General,  State  and  Municipal  Governments,  and  in  the 
filling  of  all  sorts  of  contracts  at  all  sorts  of  prices. 

The  writer  would  not  be  understood  as  including  in  this 
class,  all  the  professed  " Loyalists"  of  Baltimore  ;  on  the 
contrary  there  are  many  who  conscientiously  believe  that 
the  path  to  peace  lies  through  blood  and  carnage ;  that 
the  South  has  no  rights  the  North  is  bound  to  respect ; 
that  the  acts  of  the  Government  are  not  only  Constitution- 
al, but  right  in  themselves,  and  that  the  Editor  of  the 
"American,"  the  great  exponent  of  Loyalty  in  this  city, 
is  the  embodiment  of  honesty  and  veracity. 

To  the  influence  of  both  these  classes,  but  particularly 
the  former,  the  writer  attributes  the  long  continuance  of 
the  imprisonment  of  the  Maryland  political  prisoners  ;  to 
the  voice  of  the  North,  as  reason  began  to  resume  its  sway, 
spoken  in  thunder  tones  through  the  ballot-box,  he  attri- 
butes their  final  release. 

LAWRENCE  SANGSTON. 

Baltimore,  February,  1863. 


OF  A 

"PRISONER  OF  STATE," 

IN  FORTS  McHENRY,  MONROE,  LAFAYETTE  AND  WARREN 


SEPTEMBER  12,  1861.  Aroused  from  sleep  at  mid-night 
by  some  one  ringing  and  violently  knocking  at  the  door  ; 
looked  out  of  the  window  and  saw  a  man  who  stated 
he  had  some  important  business  with  me,  and  desired 
me  to  come  down  immediately ;  dressed  and  went  down 
stairs,  asked  his  name  and  business,  and  refused  to  open 
the  door  at  that  hour  of  the  night  to  a  stranger  until 
he  told  me  who  he  was  and  what  he  wanted.  He  then 
stated  that  he  was  a  Police  officer,  named  Bishop,  that  he 
had  an  order  for  my  arrest  in  the  name  of  the  United 
States,  and  was  directed  to  take  me  to  Fort  McHenry.  I 
asked  him  if  he  had  a  written  order,  he  said  he  'had  not ; 
that  the  order  for  my  arrest  came  by  Telegraph  from 
Washington,  and  the  Deputy  Provost  Marshal  had  sent 
him  to  execute  it.  I  opened  the  door,  and  found  four 
other  policemen  concealed  under  the  balcony,  and  others 


8 

with  a  carriage  at  the  corner  above  ;  invited  them  into  the 
Library  while  I  made  some  preparation ;  officers  very 
polite  and  suggested  I  had  better  take  an  overcoat  with 
me  as  the  night  was  chilly,  and  they  would,  if  I  desired 
it,  attend  to  having  my  baggage  sent  to  the  Fort  in  the 
morning  ;  regretted  very  much  the  painful  duty  they  had 
to  perform,  &c.,  &c.  Carriage  came  to  the  door,  got  in 
with  two  of  the  officers,  drove  to  the  Western  Station 
House,  wondering  and  speculating  as  to  the  cause  of  my 
arrest ;  could  not  comprehend  it  ;  stopped  at  the  door  of 
the  Station  House,  officers  asked  whether  I  would  remain 
in  the  carriage  or  take  a  seat  in  the  Station  House.  I 
asked  why  we  stopped  there,  answered,  it  was  to  wait  for 
Mr.  Winans  and  others  ;  then  saw  the  object  was  to  pre- 
vent the  meeting  of  the  Legislature  by  the  arrest  of  its 
members  ;  preferred  to  remain  in  the  carriage  as  I  had 
never  been  an  inmate  of  a  Watch  House  and  did  not 
desire  to  become  acquainted  with  it;  half  an  hour  after- 
wards the  hack  with  Mr.  Eoss  Winans  arrived  and  we 
proceeded  to  the  Fort ;  met  numerous  carriages  on  the 
road  and  at  the  gates  of  the  Fort,  showing  the  arrests  were 
extensive. 

On  entering  the  Fort,  was  received  by  Col.  Morris,  and 
ushered  into  an  unfurnished  room,  where  I  found  Messrs. 
Scott,  Wallis,  -Harrison  and  Warfielcl,  of  the  Legislature, 
Mr.  May.  of  Congress,  Mr.  Howard,  Editor  of  the  "Ex- 
change," and  Mr.  Hall,  Editor  of  the  "South;"  during 
the  night,  two  other  prisoners  were  brought  in,  Dr.  Thomas 
of  the  Legislature  and  Mr.  Brown,  Mayor  of  the  City. 
The  Colonel  had  some  chairs  sent  into  the  room,  not 
sufficient,  however,  for  all  of  us,  and  the  Lieutenant  was 
kind  enough  to  send  us  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  very  common, 
but  no  doubt  the  best  he  had :  the  Colonel  came  in,  took 
"three  fingers"  of  the  whiskey,  thought  we  were  rather 
crowded,  placed  four  of  us  in  an  adjoining  room,  bid  us 
good  night  and  departed.  I  paced  the  floor  until  morning, 
suffering  much  from  Lumbago  and  loss  of  sleep. 


SEPTEMBER  13.  Wrote  to  my  wife  to  send  me  some  cloth- 
ing, to  my  brother  for  money,  and  to  Deputy  Marshal 
Woods  to  make  a  few  purchases  for  me,  cigars,  tobacco,  &c. ; 
after  breakfast,  four  other  prisoners  arrived,  Messrs.  Pitts, 
Dennison,  Quinlan,  and  Lynch,  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, increasing  our  party  to  fifteen  ;  spent  the  forenoon  in 
pacing  the  portico,  reading  and  conversation.  Wife  and 
children  at  the  gate,  but  not  permitted  to  see  me ;  wife 
brought  with  her  my  best  clothing,  and  some  bedding,  pil- 
lows, sheets,  blankets,  &c.,  which  were  received  by  the 
soldiers  at  the  gate,  but  confiscated  before  they  reached  me, 
never  saw  nor  heard  of  them  afterwards.  Woods  came  in 
the  afternoon  with  the  articles  he  purchased  for  me  and 
some  money  for  me  from  my  brother ;  received  notice  at 
4.45  to  prepare  for  departure  to  Fortress  Monroe  at  5  o'clock ; 
notice  ample,  as  I  had  nothing  to  prepare  ;  marched  under 
guard  to  the  Fort  wharf,  and  on  board  the  steamer  Adelaide ; 
met  General  Dix  at  the  wharf,  who  told  me  he  had  a  letter 
for  me  at  his  office,  and  would  detain  the  boat  until  he 
could  send  for  it ;  said  that  wherever  we  went  we  would  be 
treated  as  gentlemen,  and  with  the  consideration  due  to 
our  position ;  saw  my  brother  on  the  wharf,  told  me  he  had 
just  put  a  bundle  on  board  the  boat  for  me  ;  could  not  find 
it,  never  heard  of  it  afterwards  ;  doubtless  captured  by  the 
guard  .and  confiscated  as  contraband  ;  pleasant  passage 
down  the  bay,  treated  very  kindly  by  the  officers  of  the 
boat,  particularly  by  Mr.  Klasson  the  clerk,  who  in  the 
evening,  sent  us  a  dozen  bottles  of  various  kinds  of  liquors 
and  wines  and  a  box  of  cigars  ;  in  the  morning  found  them 
all  empty  and  the  guard  disposed  to  be  very  sociable  with 
us,  except  two  or  three  who  were  too  far  gone ;  had  five  or 
six  hours  of  restless  and  uncomfortable  sleep. 

It  may  be  noticed  as  a  singular  incident  that  this  is  the 
anniversary  of  the  day  on  which  the  "Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner" was  written  by  the  grandfather  of  one  of  the  prisoners. 

SEPTEMBER  14.  Arrived  at  Fortress  Monroe  at  8  A.  M., 
after  breakfast  the  clerk  of  the  boat  went  on  shore  and 


10 

shortly  returned  with  information  that  we  would  not  be 
removed  from  the  boat  until  after  dinner,  the  boat  then  left 
the  wharf  and  anchored  in  the  roads  opposite  Mill  Creek. 
The  view  here  is  an  extensive  and  beautiful  one,  embracing 
the  mouths  of  James  and  Elizabeth  rivers,  and  the  entire 
space  of  water  known  as  Hampton  Roads  ;  on  the  north, 
the  fortress  at  Old  Point,  the  camps  between  the  Fort  and 
Hampton  Creek  and  the  ruins  of  Hampton  in  the  distance, 
on  the  east  and  south,  the  Rip  Raps,  Willoughby's  Point, 
Se  well's  Point  and  the  south  side  of  James  river  as  far  as 
the  mouth  of  the  Nansemond.  While  here  and  there,  by 
the  aid  of  an  opera  glass  could  be  seen  the  tented  camps 
and  flags  of  the  Confederates.  The  day  was  delicious,  and 
under  other  circumstances  I  should  have  enjoyed  it  much, 
notwithstanding  my  familiarity  with  the  scene.  At  two 
o'clock,  P.  M.,  General  Wool  sent  for  Mr.  Brown  and  Mr. 
May  ;  they  returned  in  about  an  hour  and  stated  the  result 
of  their  interview :  General  Wool  informed  them  that  his 
orders  were  to  keep  us  in  "close  custody,"  and  not  permit 
any  communication  with  any  one  ;  that  under  these  in- 
structions we  would  be  confined  in  the  casemates,  that  we 
would  be  supplied  with  food  from  the  hotel  by  Mr.  Wil- 
lard,  and  furnished  with  facilities  for  writing  to  our  friends, 
all  letters  passing  through  his  hands. 

Messrs.  Brown  and  May  remonstrated  with  General  Wool 
at  this  severe  interpretation  of  his  orders,  that  the  case- 
mates were  contracted  and  necessarily  damp,  and  that, 
with  the  total  deprivation  of  exercise  in  the  fresh  air,  would 
seriously  jeopardize  the  health  of  our  party,  some  of  whom 
were  very  old  men,  and  others  of  delicate  frame  and  con- 
stitution, not  prepared,  from  their  previous  habits  and 
position  in  life,  to  meet  such  a  deprivation  with  safety. 
General  Wool  replied  that  the  difficulty  about  the  case- 
mates might  be  obviated  by  assigning  to  our  use  a  build- 
ing within  the  walls  of  the  Fort  known  as  ''"Carroll  Hall," 
which  would  be  sufficiently  spacious  to  give  each  of  us  a 
separate  room,  and  that  he  would  have  the  building  pre- 
pared for  us  by  to-morrow,  in  the  meantime  we  would 


11 

occupy  the  casemates,  but  that  the  privilege  of  taking  exer- 
cise in  the  open  air  was  not,  according  to  his  view,  allow- 
able under  his  construction  of  his  orders.  At  4  o'clock, 
P.  M.,  the  boat  returned  to  the  wharf  and  we  were  march- 
ed into  the  Fort,  under  a  guard,  to  our  quarters. 

Those  quarters  consisted  of  two  casemates,  each  contain- 
ing two  rooms,  the  one  facing  the  interior  of  the  Fort,  15 
by  22  feet;  the  other  facing  the  canal  and  sea,  15  by  17 
feet,  arched  and  covered  with  earth  perhaps  10  or  15  feet, 
supplied  with  closets  in  alcoves  between  the  dividing  walls  ; 
the  front  room  with  fire-place  and  lighted  by  a  sash-door 
and  two  windows  of  the  usual  size,  the  back  room  lighted 
by  the  port  hole,  22  by  24  inches. 

No  preparation  had  been  made  to  receive  us,  but  soon 
the  quartermaster  and  provost  marshal  made  their  appear- 
ance, and  stated  that  arrangements  would  be  promptly 
made  for  our  comfort  and  convenience.  A  sufficient  quan- 
tity of  iron  bedsteads,  mattresses,  and  bed  clothing,  soon 
came  from  the  hotel  and  were  arranged.  The  beds  were 
very  good  for  those  who  could  sleep  on  beds  as  hard  as 
the  floor.  I  cannot,  being  afflicted  with  Lumbago,  and 
consequently  passed  a  sleepless  and  painful  night. 

We  made  our  domestic  arrangements  by  taking  one  of 
the  larger  rooms  for  a  mess  room,  and  placing  five  beds  in 
each  of  the  other  rooms.  We  were  then  informed  that 
under  no  circumstances  would  we  be  permitted  to  leave  our 
quarters  or  even  to  sit  at  the  door  ;  this  involved  other 
domestic  arrangements  of  an  unpleasant  character,  par- 
ticularly in  crowded,  damp  and  ill-ventilated  apartments  ; 
in  making  this  and  other  arrangements  for  our  comfort, 
the  provost  marshal,  Capt.  Davis,  professed  a  disposition 
to  do  for  us  whatever  he  could.* 


*  Two  or  three  days  afterwards,  when  the  sergeant  closed  our  doors  and 
windows,  by  the  order,  as  he  said,  of  General  Wool,  who,  in  riding  past, 
had  noticed  the  shutters  open,  and  had  reprimanded  him  for  permitting 
it ;  we  wrote  to  Capt.  Davis,  through  Mr.  Wallis,  complaining  of  the 
almost  total  deprivation  of  light  and  air  ;  no  notice  was  taken  of  the  letter, 
unless  the  placing  of  iron  bars  and  padlocks  on  the  doors  and  windows 
next  morning,  might  be  considered  an  answer. 


12 

Supper  was  served  at  eight  o'clock  and  shortly  afterwards 
we  retired,  or  rather  we  went  to  bed;  about  ten  o'clock  an 
officer  entered  our  apartment  and  commenced  a  thorough 
search  of  the  baggage  and  clothes  in  a  style  that  would 
have  been  creditable  to  an  Austrian  Custom  House  Officer, 
notwithstanding  it  had  been  previously  searched  at  Fort 
McHenry,  still  it  was  quietly  and  respectfully  done,  only 
awakening  the  sleepers  as  he  wanted  the  key  of  some 
particular  trunk  ;  having  no  baggage  myself,  he  was 
forced  to  content  himself  with  searching  the  pockets  of 
my  coat,  vest  and  pantaloons,  which  were  laying  across  a 
chair  at  my  bedside,  but  found  nothing  suspicious  nor  con- 
traband ;  having  finished  by  taking  an  unusually  large 
drink  out  of  a  bottle  of  whiskey  in  Dr.  Lynch' s  trunk, 
under  the  delusion  that  no  one  was  looking  at  him,  he 
quietly  departed,  and  save  the  tread  of  the  sentinel,  all 
was  still. 

SEPTEMBER  15. — Sunday.  Very  sore  in  the  back  and 
breast  from  an  attempt  to  sleep  last  night,  got  up  two  or 
three  times  during  the  night  and  paced  the  floor,  wrote 
home  for  a  soft  mattress,  and  soft  rocking  chair,  such  as  I 
am  accustomed  to  sit  on  ;  very  quiet  in  our  quarters,  some 
reading  the  Bible,  some  writing  letters  ;  heard  the  singing 
of  some  religious  service  in  the  neighborhood,  but  was  not 
invited  to  participate.  There  are  Sundays  in  revolutionary 
times ;  but,  perhaps,  they  think  prisoners  have  no  souls  ! 
Head  as  much  as  my  broken  spectacles  would  permit,  and 
went  to  bed  early,  slept  four  or  five  hours,  received 
baggage  from  home,  and  a  variety  of  little  comforts  such 
as  women  alone  know  how  to  provide  ;  trunk  and  provision 
can  well  searched  by  a  Baltimore  detective  who  came  down 
in  the  boat,  the  Deputy  Provost  Marshal  standing  by  to 
see  it  well  done  ;  small  bundle  which  the  detective  declined 
to  open,  asked  him  why?  said  he  saw  it  in  the  Provost 
Marshal's  office  in  Baltimore  the  day  previous,  and  knew 
the  contents  ;  wife  sent  the  keys  of  trunk  and  provision 
can,  lost  on  the  way  and  both  had  to  be  broken  open. 


13 

detective's  style  of  breaking  locks  may  be  characterized  as 
"  strong  but  not  neat." 

SEPTEMBER  16.  Close,  murky  morning,  rooms  smelling 
badly,  applied  to  officer  in  charge  for  some  disinfecting 
agent,  promised,  but  did  not  come  ;  no  change  of  quarters 
as  promised  and  expected ;  soldiers  engaged  all  the  morn- 
ing in  building  a  fence  in  front  of  our  rooms,  making  an 
enclosure  of  about  forty  by  twenty-five  feet ;  supposed  it 
was  intended  to  extend  the  area  of  freedom  by  giving  us  a 
place  for  exercise — all  a  mistake — intended  for  the  con- 
venience of  the  guard,  and  to  keep  off  curious  idlers  who 
come  to  "look  at  the  menagerie;"  fare  getting  worse, 
can't  tell  tea  from  coffee  or  coffee  from  tea ;  sent  protest 
verbally,  by  waiters,  to  Mr,  Willard,  against  furnishing 
such  questionable  liquids,  most  cf  us  have  been  at  his 
house  in  Washington,  and  know  he  can  do  better  if  he 
will ;  spent  the  day  in  reading  and  playing  cards.  I  read 
aloud  Burke' s  address  to  the  King  in  1777,  and  Wallis 
read  the  "Captive  Starling,"  from  Sterne,  the  one  as 
singularly  applicable  to  the  present  condition  of  the 
country,  and  the  other  to  our  own  condition  as  prisoners. 

Had  a  visit  this  morning  from  Major  Hamilton,  who  it 
seems  is  an  acquaintance  of  Mayor  Brown,  he  is  aid 
to  General  Wool,  and  called  to  read  to  us  the  orders  of 
the  General  for  our  information — they  were  exceedingly 
minute,  even  to  directing  the  servants  who  brought  our 
meals  from  the  hotel,  to  count  the  knives,  forks  and  spoons 
after  each  meal  and  take  them  back  to  the  hotel !  !  ! 

Kained  very  hard  all  the  afternoon  and  night  with  a 
gale  from  the  East,  rooms  very  damp  and  oppressive  from 
various  causes,  Mr.  Quinlan  sick  with  dysentery  ;  slept 
better  than  heretofore. 

SEPTEMBER  17.  Rooms  very  damp  from  storm  last  night, 
floor  of  mess  room  wet  with  exhalations  from  the  ground, 
had  a  fire  built  to  dry  the  room  and  air,  applied  again  for 
disinfectants,  but  without  success ;  fare  somewhat  improved, 


14 

especially  liquids,  coffee  decidedly  better ;  Provost  Marshal 
sick,  and  as  he  is  the  only  one  we  can  apply  to,  for  any 
thing  we  want,  must  remain  satisfied  until  he  gets  well. 
Kept  fire  up  all  day  to  dry  the  rooms  ;  soldiers  at  work 
putting  bars  to  the  front  windows;  Corporal  says  he  has 
orders  to  close  the  front  windows  and  doors,  shutting  out 
to  a  great  extent  the  light  and  air,  already  very  scant ; 
hear  nothing  further  of  promised  change  of  quarters  to 
Carroll  Hall ;  went  to  bed  at  10  o'clock,  got  but  little  sleep. 

SEPTEMBER  18.  Clear  and  pleasant  weather ;  built  fire  to 
dry  the  rooms,  read  the  Baltimore  and  New  York  papers, 
which  are  purchased  by  one  of  the  sergeants  for  us  ;  received 
letters  from  home  of  a  pleasant  character  ;  during  the 
morning  the  sergeant  closed  and  fastened  front  doors  by  order 
of  the  General,  the  instructions  from  Washington  to  keep 
us  in  "close  custody"  now  literally  carried  out,  the  only 
light  and  air  we  now  receive  in  each  casemate  is  from  an 
opening  of  less  than  a  square  yard.  Wrote  to  Capt.  Can- 
non to  hunt  up  my  lost  baggage  ;  after  dinner  played  cards 
for  a  couple  of  hours ;  about  five  o'clock,  an  officer  with 
blacksmiths  came  to  put  iron  bars  and  padlocks  on  the  front 
doors  and  windows  ;  the  sound  of  the  blacksmith's  hammer 
under  such  circumstances  produces  a  singularly  grating 
sensation,  and  is  in  painful  contrast  to  a  visit  made  us  the 
day  before  yesterday  by  the  aid-de-camp  of  General  Wool, 
who  called  to  assure  us  of  the  desire  of  the  General  to  do 
whatever  he  could  to  promote  our  comfort,  and  gratuitously 
suggested  that  he  would  have  a  neighboring  room  pre- 
pared to  use  as  a  water  closet,  and  relieve  us  from  the 
necessity  of  using  our  eating  and  sleeping  apartments  for 
that  purpose,  which,  however,  has  not  been  done.  A  pleas- 
ing contrast  to  this  may  be  recorded  of  the  kindness  of  one 
of  the  officers  who  sent  us  a  box  of  cigars,  half  dozen  bot- 
tles of  cologne  and  a  few  volumes  of  light  reading  ;  played 
cards  for  an  hour  after  supper  ;  received  my  mattress  and 
chair  from  Baltimore,  and  had  the  first  comfortable  and 
refreshing  sleep  since  my  arrest. 


15 

SEPTEMBER  19.  Awoke  very  much  refreshed — pains  in 
back  and  chest  very  much  lessened  ;  passed  the  morning 
in  reading,  writing,  and  taking  as  much  exercise  as  our 
contracted  quarters  will  admit  of — these  quarters  consist  of 
four  rooms,  having  in  the  aggregate,  a  superficial  area  of 
twelve  yards  square.  When  it  is  considered  that  in  addi- 
tion to  the  fifteen  occupants  of  this  space,  there  are  fifteen 
bedsteads,  fifteen  washstands,  eighteen  chairs,  twenty-five 
trunks,  four  closets,  three  wardrobes,  (extremely  primitive 
in  their  construction,)  three  sets  of  shelving  of  similar 
character,  a  pine  table,  three  by  four  and  a  half  feet,  a 
dining  table,  twelve  by  three  feet,  two  fire  places,  two 
portable  water  closets,  (all  but  the  water,)  and  numerous 
small  items  encumbering  the  floors  in  the  way  of  slop 
buckets,  spittoons,  baskets,  bundles,  &c.,  &c.;  it  may  be 
readily  understood  that  the  space  for  exercise  is  exceed- 
ingly small.  The  table  has  been  better  supplied  during 
the  past  two  or  three  days,  particularly  in  liquids,  the 
coffee  is  now  really  good ;  after  dinner  played  cards  for  an 
hour  or  two.  We  are  gradually  being  placed  under  more 
stringent  discipline ;  are  no  longer  permitted  to  communi- 
cate our  wants  to  the  Corporal  of  the  Guard,  or  permitted 
to  speak  to  the  sentinels.  When  we  wish  anything  done 
our  only  mode  of  communicating  our  wants  is  through  the 
Deputy  Provost  Marshal,  who  has  other  duties  to  perform, 
and  of  course  is  only  occasionally  within  call ;  two  instances 
of  this  inconvenience  may  be  noticed  during  this  day: 
about  one  o'clock  a  lieutenant  came  from  head-quarters 
with  our  letters ;  the  deputy  marshal  not  being  present, 
the  Corporal  of  the  Guard  declined  receiving  them,  and 
the  lieutenant  had  to  take  them  back,  not  being  allowed 
to  deliver  them  himself,  and  we  did  not  get  them  until 
late  in  the  day,  too  late  to  answer  them  by  that  night's 
mail.  Again,  in  the  afternoon,  we  were  without  water, 
and  although  a  bucket  of  ice-water  (which  we  had  paid  for) 
was  standing  outside  the  door,  and  we  could  see  it  through 
the  slats,  we  had  to  wait  two  hours  until  the  only  person 
who  could  deliver  it  to  us  made  his  appearance,  by  which 


16 

time  the  sun  had  melted  the  ice  and  spoiled  the  water. 
After  supper,  played  cards  for  a  couple  of  hours  and  went 
to  bed. 

SEPTEMBER  20.  Awakened  earlier  than  usual  by  the 
noise  of  unlocking  and  unbarring  the  outer  doors.  Addi- 
son,  in  describing  the  City  of  Cologne,  famed,  the  world 
over,  for  its  sweet  scented  perfumes,  and  the  nastiness  (I 
don't  like  that  word)  of  its  streets,  says  that  in  walking 
around  the  city  he  counted  some  fifty  stenches,  each  of 
them  separate  and  well  defined  stinks  ; — the  entire  fifty, 
consolidated  into  one  grand  stink,  could  not  have  exceeded 
that  found  in  our  rooms  this  morning — got  up,  made  a 
cup  of  strong  coffee  and  smoked  a  couple  of  cigars  to 
mollify  the  stench,  but  with  little  success  ;  ate  breakfast — 
excellent  coffee  and  beefsteak,  but  bread  not  fit  to  eat ; 
supplied  that  deficiency  out  of  tin  can  which  wife  was 
thoughtful  enough  to  send,  filled  with  bread,  biscuit  and 
crackers ;  after  breakfast  read  the  Baltimore  and  New 
York  papers,  full  of  lies  about  the  Maryland  Legislature  ; 
received  letters  from  home,  all  well.* 

Deputy  Provost  Marshal  made  his  appearance  slightly 
tight,  (our  liquor  passes  through  his  hands,)  and  was 
unusually  civil  and  obliging ;  expressed  great  anxiety  to  do 
what  he  could  to  promote  our  comfort,  and  superintended 
the  cleaning  of  our  rooms  by  two  contraband  negroes 

*The  "Baltimore  American,"  received  to-day,  boldly  asserts,  in  its 
editorial,  that  letters  had  been  intercepted  between  the  Members  of  the 
Legislature  and  the  Confederates  in  Virginia,  which  revealed  the  whole 
plan  of  action.  General  Johnston  was  to  cross  the  Potomac  with  a  large 
army  and  occupy  the  City  of  Frederick,  and. the  Legislature  were  simul- 
taneously to  pass  an  Act  of  Secession  under  the  protection  of  Confederate 
bayonets,  all  of  which  the  Editor  knew  to  be  false  when  he  penned  it. 

We  wrote  an  article,  denouncing  the  falsehood,  for  publication  in  the 
Baltimore  papers,  but  General  Wool  declined  sending  it,  except  via  Wash- 
ington, where  of  course  it  was  suppressed. 

The  same  paper  speaks,  with  great  apparent  pleasure,  of  the  action  of  a 
Wisconsin  Regiment  in  sacking  the  Legislature  Halls,  and  making  a 
"  grand  conflagration"  of  the  public  documents  after  they  had  arrested 
and  dispersed  the  Legislature. 


17 

detailed  for  that  purpose,  both  exceedingly  dirty  and 
stupid,  especially  one  named  James  Munroe,  who,  from 
the  exuberance  of  his  wool,  we  have  named  the  General. 
The  Deputy  Provost  having  ascertained  that  some  bottles 
of  whiskey  and  a  bucket  of  ice  water  were  in  the  closet 
in  the  back  room,  undertook  the  cleaning  of  that  room 
himself,  and  several  times  went  back  to  see  if  any  thing 
was  left  undone. 

Dinner  remained  on  the  wheelbarrow  outside  the  door 
to-day  until  it  got  cold,  because  the  Duputy  was  absent, 
and  no  one  else  could  authorize  its  delivery  ;  when  he 
came,  he  apologized,  had  been  to  his  own  dinner,  and 
forgot  ours,  and  had  fallen  asleep  after  dinner,  no  doubt 
from  the  fatigue  of  his  morning's  work.  Tried  to  read  and 
sleep  in  the  afternoon,  but  failed  in  both.  A  decided 
improvement  to-day  in  our  accommodations  ;  the  rear  room 
of  the  adjoining  case-mate  appropriated  to  our  use  as  a 
water  closet,  thus  ridding  us  of  one  of  the  most  offensive 
nuisances  that  can  be  imagined  in  close  and  badly  venti- 
lated rooms. 

Supper,  reading  an  hour,  cards  a  couple  of  hours — and 
to  bed. 

SEPTEMBER  21.  Awoke  very  much  refreshed  and  free 
from  pain,  and  rooms  comparatively  free  from  stench  ; 
made  a  cup  of  coffee,  smoked  and  read  the  newspapers  ; 
very  good  breakfast,  fish  particularly  good  and  well  cooked ; 
no  letters  from  home  to-day.  The  usual  routine  for  the 
morning,  reading,  writing  and  conversation  until  dinner  ; 
after  dinner  reading  and  cards  until  supper, — very  poor 
supper  and  very  little  of  it, — so  much  so  that  Deputy 
Provost  swore  vengeance  against  hotel  keepers,  cooks  and 
waiters:  Deputy,  however,  was  ''tightly  slight,"  and  has 
become  our  fast  friend  ever  since  he  found  where  our  liquor 
closet  was,  and  is  beginning  to  entertain  a  very  high 
opinion  of  us,  particularly  as  we  do  not  go  into  the  back 
room  when  he  is  there, — an  open  box  of  cigars  and  some 
fine  old  bologna  sausage  with  a  box  of  crackers  in  the 
1* 


18 

lias  tended  very  much  to  increase  his  appreciation 
of  us. 

Spent  a  very  pleasant  evening  listening  to  Wallis  read- 
ing the  ''Prisoner  of  Chillon "  and  other  pieces  from 
Byron  ;  went  to  bed  at  eleven  and  slept  soundly. 

SEPTEMBER  22. — Sunday.  Usual  routine — received  letters 
from  home  and  answered  them;  provisions  and  liquors 
arriving  from  kind  friends  in  Baltimore  in  sufficient  quan- 
tities to  set  up  a  hotel,  with  an  upper  and  lower  bar;  the 
latter  was  established  some  days  since  by  Quarter-master 
W.,  and  is  well  patronised,  our  legal  friends  having  no 
other  bar  to  practice  at,  are  faithfully  doing  duty  at  this 
one,  and  the  medical  and  mercantile  members  of  our  party 
are  following  the  example— spent  the  morning  in  reading; 
dinner  again  remained  on  the  wheelbarrow,  outside,  until 
it  got  cold  ;  slept  most  of  the  afternoon — after  supper  read 
aloud  from  the  "Ingoldsby  Legends,"  paced  the  floor  for 
exercise  for  an  hour,  smoked  a  pipe,  and  went  to  bed. 

SEPTEMBER  23.  Rose  at  six,  very  good  night's  sleep,  cup 
of  coifee  and  cigar  and  half  an  hour's  exercise  pacing  the 
floor.  Deputy  Provost  came  in  with  a  message  from  Gen- 
eral Wool  to  Mr.  Winans,  requesting  the  pleasure  of  his 
company  to  breakfast — which  we  regarded,  to  use  one  of  Ben 
Deford's  expressions,  as  "Catamount"  to  a  release;  take 
it  for  granted  that  Revenue  Johnson  has  received  another 

fee  of  five  hundred  dollars  ;  see  him  d d  before  he  gets 

a  fee  out  of  me  for  such  service  ;  glad  to  see  Winans  re- 
leased, he  bore  his  confinement  like  a  man ;  after  breakfast, 
Winans  returned  in  company  with  Major  Hamilton,  an  aid 
of  General  Wool,  to  get  his  baggage,  and  take  leave  of  us  ; 
spent  the  morning  in  reading  and  writing, — no  news- 
papers to-day. 

This  being  the  anniversary  of  Dr.  Thomas'  birth  day, 
we  spent  an  extra  half  hour  at  the  dinner  table  in  honor 
of  it ;  I  made  coffee  for  the  party,  and  with  some  fine  old 
sherry  wine,  that  Winans  left  us,  and  some  wild  cherry 


19 

bounce,  contributed  by  Frank  Howard,  we  had  a  good 
time;  toast  by  Pitts  to  Thomas  " May  your  next  birth- 
day be  spent  with  your  own  mate  and  not  in  a  case-mate;" 
did  not  forget  to  drink  Winans'  health  in  the  sherry  he 
left  us. 

Our  quarters  are  getting  gradually  more  comfortable, 
perhaps  because  we  are  getting  more  accustomed  to  them ; 
we  have  now  a  fire  daily  in  the  dining  room  which  serves 
to  dry  the  air  in  all  the  rooms,  and  the  officer  who  has 
charge  of  us  (Deputy  Provost  Hunt)  shows  every  disposi- 
tion to  attend  to  us,  our  greatest  deprivation  is,  of  exercise 
in  the  open  air ;  we  suffer  to  some  extent  also  for  want  of 
light  and  ventilation.  Major  Hamilton  stated  to-day  that 
the  General  had  every  disposition  to  alleviate  our  condition, 
but  that  his  orders  were  rigid  to  keep  us  in  close  confine- 
ment ;  why  it  is  necessary  in  carrying  out  those  orders  to 
deprive  us  of  light  and  air  by  closing  and  barring  the 
doors  and  windows,  we  cannot  conceive. 

After  dinner  played  cards  for  a  couple  of  hours ;  in  the 
evening,  Wallis  read  aloud  from  Byron.  Went  to  bed  at 
eleven  and  slept  soundly. 

SEPTEMBER  24.  Rose  at  seven  and  made  coffee;  feel  very 
well,  entirely  free  from  Lumbago;  enjoyed  breakfast  very 
much,  picking  broiled  crabs,  for  which  Warfield  sent  to 
Baltimore;  none, to  be  had  at  the  hotel  here,  although  the 
shores  swarm  with  them  ;  Yankees  have  not  discovered 
they  are  fit  to  eat;  and  although  this  is  the  heart  of  Gov. 
Wise's  "fundum"  we  have  not  seen  an  oyster,  and  have 
not  been  able  to  get  one  from  the  hotel ;  the  fish,  however, 
are  very  good,  and  nicely  cooked.  No  newspapers  to-day; 
Deputy  says  the  entire  newspaper  mail  missed  this  morn- 
ing ;  received  letter  mail  at  twelve,  but  nothing  for  me ; 
wrote  to  wife,  also  to  Dr.  Chapman  requesting  him  to 
write  to  William  H.  Seward,  and  tell  htm  how  we  are 
treated  here,  with  regard  to  light,  air  and  exercise  ;* 


*  Seward  expressed  great  astonishment  when  informed  of  our  treatment, 
insisted  that  Gen.  Wool  had  mis-interpreted  his  orders,  which  were  to 


20 

dinner  to-day  remained  on  the  wheelbarrow  outside  the 
door  for  one  hour,  waiting  for  Deputy  Provost  to  come  and 
authorize  its  delivery ;  vegetables  of  course  cold,  and  not 
fit  to  eat;  another  great  annoyance  arising  from  same 
cause,  is  that  we  cannot  pass  into  the  water  closet  unless 
the  same  personage  is  present  to  authorize  it,  although 
water  closet  is  in  an  adjoining  casemate,  and  the  door 
guarded  by  a  special  sentinel ;  suffered  much  inconvenience 
to-day  from  having  to  wait  more  than  an  hour  before 
the  officer  could  be  found.  After  dinner,  reading  and  con- 
versation, evening  passed  in  same  way,  to  bed  at  ten  and 
slept  soundly. 

SEPTEMBER  25.  Arose  at  six  o'clock;  very  good  night's 
sleep  ;  made  coffee  for  myself  and  the  others  as  far  as  the 
machine  would  go.  At  eight  o'clock,  Major  Hamilton 
made  his  appearance  with  orders  from  General  Scott  to 
ship  us  to  Fort  LaFayette,  New  York  harbor  ;  the  boat  to 
start  at  two  o'clock,  P.  M.;  consumed  the  morning  in 
writing  home  and  packing  up,  in  which  we  were  aided  by 
the  Deputy  Provost,  who  managed  to  steal  nearly  all  our 
stock  of  candles  ;  caught  him  at  it,  he  excused  himself  on 
the  ground  that  he  wanted  them,  and  we  could  get  plenty 
more  where  we  were  going  ;  besides  he  said  it  was  a  steal- 
ing business  all  round,  and  that  it  was  through  his  man- 
agement that  they  were  obtained  from  the  quartermaster  ; 
had  an  early  dinner,  and  at  the  appointed  hour  left  our 
quarters  with  great  ceremony,  escorted  by  several  hundred 
soldiers  under  the  command  of  a  Dutch  colonel,  who,  when 
all  was  ready  for  a  start,  gave  the  order  to  ' '  advance  for- 
ivard ;"  the  rear  guard  being  composed  of  all  the  idlers, 
children  and  contraband  negroes  about  the  Fort ;  reaching 
the  wharf,  we  were  carefully  counted  and  delivered  over 

keep  us  securely,  but  treat  us  kindly,  and  said  he  would  immediately  write 
to  General  Wool  on  the  subject. 

General  Wool,  on  the  other  hand,  insisted  that  his  orders  were  positive  to 
treat  us  with  great  rigor,  feed  us  on  soldier's  rations,  (which,  however, 
he  did  not  do,)  and  permit  no  one  to  see  us. 


21 

to  a  Capt.  Coster,  who  having  properly  receipted  for  us, 
marched  us  with  a  guard  of  thirty  men  on  hoard  the 
steamer  George  Peahody,  Capt.  Travers  ;  our  Deputy  Pro- 
vost accompanied  us  to  the  hoat,  and  actually  shed  tears 
at  parting  with  us,  shaking  hands  several  times  with  each 
of  us,  (he  had  helped  to  pack  our  liquors,)  no  doubt  he 
considered  our  departure  as  a  calamity,  as  his  only  chance 
for  an  occasional  drink  and  a  good  dinner  departed  with  us. 
The  officer  in  charge  gave  orders  that  we  should  have 
the  liberty  of  the  entire  ship  and  the  best  of  every  thing 
on  board  during  the  voyage :  the  latter  order  was  entirely 
unnecessary,  as  every  one  of  the  ship's  crew,  from  the 
captain  down  to  the  kitchen  negroes,  were  Marylanders  ; 
weather  delightful  at  starting,  but  outside  the  Capes 
encountered  heavy  ground  swell  from  the  east,  the  effect 
of  the  late  storm,  which  made  the  ship  roll  heavily,  and 
most  of  the  party  sea-sick.  The  Captain  of  the  Guard  and 
most  of  his  men  very  sick  ;  the  perfect  ease  with  which 
the  ship's  course  could  be  turned  to  the  south  was  freely 
discussed,  and  nothing  but  the  belief  that  our  imprison- 
ment would  be  of  short  duration,  prevented  it  from  being 
done  ;  when  such  of  the  guard  as  were  not  too  sick  to  go, 
went  in  the  cabin  to  supper,  they  stacked  their  guns  in  an 
adjoining  cabin,  and  about  ten  o'clock  one  of  the  negro 
waiters  came  to  me  and  whispered  very  confidentially  that 
"none  of  them  wanted  to  go  to  New  York  ;"  went  to  bed 
at  eleven — slept  but  little  from  the  motion  of  the  ship  and 
the  hardness  of  the  bed. 

SEPTEMBER  26.  Arose  at  six  o'clock ;  ship  rolling  so 
badly  that  I  could  scarcely  dress  ;  very  unwell ;  could  not 
eat  any  breakfast  until  ten  o'clock,  and  very  little  then  ; 
locomotion  very  difficult ;  weather  delightful,  and  would 
have  enjoyed  it  very  much,  but  for  the  rolling  of  the  ves- 
sel ;  Capt.  Travers,  his  officers  and  crew,  all  very  kind  and 
attentive  to  us  ;  the  Captain  placed  his  ship's  stores  at  our 
disposal,  and  would  take  no  compensation  ;  arrived  at 
Fort  LaFayette  at  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  and  anchor- 


22 

ed  until  the  Captain  of  the  Guard  could  communicate  with 
the  commander  of  the  Fort ;  at  five  he  returned  with  orders 
for  our  debarkation  ;  went  ashore  in  small  boat ;  were 
received  and  required  to  answer  to  our  names  at  the  wharf 
stairs  by  Lieut.  Wood,  the  commander  of  the  Fort,  and 
ushered  into  one  of  the  battery  rooms,  already  occupied  by 
twenty-four  others — mostly  Marylanders  ;  rather  shock- 
ed at  the  appearance  of  things  as  compared  with  our  quar- 
ters at  Fortress  Monroe  ;  luckily  I  brought  my  mattress 
with  me,  as  the  Government  furnishes  nothing  but  an  iron 
bedstead,  a  pallet  of  straw,  and  a  shoddy  blanket ;  and  as 
our  arrival  was  unexpected,  but  five  bags  of  straw  could 
be  found  for  our  whole  party  of  fourteen  ;  and  but  for  the 
exertion  of  Mr.  Davis,  Police  Commissioner,  who  imme- 
diately set  to  work  to  borrow  mattresses  and  blankets  from 
those  who  could  spare  them,  most  of  us  would  have  been 
without  a  bed  of  any  kind.  Baggage  not  coming  in  to  get 
sheets  and  blankets  out,  had  to  sleep  in  my  clothes ;  finally 
got  fixed  and  went  to  sleep,  but  awakened  by  the  restless- 
ness of  my  fellow  lodgers  half  a  dozen  times  during  the 
night. 

SEPTEMBER,  27.  Aroused  at  six  by  beating  of  drums ;  got 
up  and  went  out  to  view  the  premises ;  not  very  inviting, 
Fort  built  on  a  small  island  about  half  a  mile  from  main 
shore,  island  covering  perhaps  an  acre,  area  of  interior 
about  thirty-five  yards  square,  surrounded  by  buildings 
three  stories  high,  the  upper  story  of  wood ;  Maryland 
Penitentiary  decidedly  more  prepossessing  in  appearance; 
fell  in  with  a  prisoner  of  war  from  Virginia,  named  Drane, 
(whom  I  had  met  at  Fort  McHenry  in  my  visits  thither, 
with  clothing  and  food  for  the  prisoners.)  Was  very  glad  to 
see  me  and  insisted  on  my  going  to  his  room  to  take  a 
wash,  furnished  me  with  fresh  water  and  a  clean  towel, 
did  not  know  at  the  time  how  great  a  compliment  it  was, 
as  otherwise  I  would  have  been  compelled  to  wash  in  salt 
water.  Made  arrangements  through  Mr.  Davis  to  have 
our  meals  furnished  by  Mrs.  Graves,  the  wife  of  one  of  the 


28 

sergeants,  at  fifty  cents  per  meal,  so  I  shall  not  suffer  on 
that  score;  those  who  have  not  the  means  or  inclination  to 
make  this  arrangement,  live  on  the  rations  furnished  by 
the  Government,  consisting  of  salt  pork  or  rather  pork 
fat,  hard  and  soft  bread  on  alternate  days,  bean  soup  and 
a  liquid  called  coffee,  sweetened  with  molasses,  served  up 
on  tin  plates  and  cups. 

Made  a  survey  of  our  room — sixty-six  by  twenty-two 
feet — brick  floor,  occupied  by  thirty-eight  people,  (twenty- 
three  of  them  members  of  the  Maryland  Legislature,  the 
balance  from  Kentucky)  containing  five  thirty-two  pound 
cannon  with  their  cumbersome  carriages,  occupying  fully 
half  the  space  in  the  room,  thirty-eight  iron  bedsteads, 
the  baggage  of  all  the  occupants,  half  a  dozen  chairs  and 
three  wooden  benches  five  feet  long  ;  the  Government  with 
great  liberality  has  supplied  for  the  accommodation  of  this 
number  of  people,  one  small  writing  table,  three  wash 
stands  with  bowls  and  pitchers,  two  water  buckets,  one 
slop  tub  and  one  tin  cup  to  drink  out  of,  and  furnishes  two 
candles  at  night,  for  the  whole  party,  which  are  cut  up  in 
small  pieces,  and  distributed  around,  (did  not  anticipate 
this  or  would  have  stopped  Deputy  Provost  at  Fortress 
Monroe  when  1  caught  him  stealing  our  candles ;  he  is 
and  is  not,  a  man  of  foresight.) 

This  room  is  ventilated  by  five  port  holes  eighteen  by 
twenty-four  inches,  and  during  the  day,  by  two  of  the 
doors  facing  the  interior  of  the  Fort;  the  latter  are  closed 
and  locked  at  sun-set,  and  at  9.15  all  lights  must  be  put 
out  and  we  are  left  in  utter  darkness  ;  should  any  of  the 
inmates  have  to  attend  to  calls  of  nature  during  the  night, 
he  has  to  find  his  way  to  the  door,  and  knock  until  the 
sentinel  chooses  to  hear  him,  which  generally  takes  ten  or 
fifteen  minutes  ;  the  sentinel  then  goes  after  the  Sergeant 
of  the  Guard,  which  consumes  about  as  much  more  time ; 
who  conducts  the  applicant  outside  the  Fort  walls  and 
back  again,  when  the  door  is  closed  and  he  is  left  to  find 
his  bed  as  best  he  can,  in  the  dark ;  a  very  difficult  opera- 
tion, as  the  room  is  too  much  crowded  to  admit  of  passages 


24 

between  the  bedsteads,  and  the  unfortunate  generally 
stumbles  over  and  wakes  up  a  dozen  others,  and  leaves  the 
marks  of  the  sharp  iron  legs  of  the  bedsteads  on  his  shins 
before  he  finds  his  own  place  ;  much  confusion  arose  last 
night  from  this  cause,  several  of  our  party  being  quite 
sick. 

I  foresaw  this  difficulty  and  obviated  it  by  placing  my 
bed  alongside  the  door  ;  I  did  not  gain  much  however  by 
it,  as  I  was  awakened  about  once  an  hour  by  the  thump- 
ing at  the  door. 

Occupied  most^of  the  morning  in  writing  letters  home  : 
weather  cold  and  raw,  had  to  write  with  a  blanket  wrapped 
round  my  legs. 

Very  good  dinner  at  three  o'clock  ;  our  mess  consists  of 
forty  persons,  for  which  the  sergeant  receives  our  rations 
and  forty  dollars  per  day,  furnishing  us  with  two  meals. 
From  various  little  circumstances  we  assume  that  the 
Commander  of  the  Fort  receives  a  larger  share  of  the 
profits  than  the  sergeant  and  his  wife  do.  After  dinner  we 
lost  two  of  our  room-mates,  Messrs.  Brown  and  Warfield, 
who  have  been  removed  to  what  is  supposed  better  quarters 
in  one  of  the  casemates,  although  I  doubt  it  very  much  ; 
they  will  have  a  more  select  set  of  companions,  but  only 
one-third  the  amount  of  oxygen,  which  I  esteem  as  the 
most  valuable  commodity,  under  existing  circumstances  ; 
the  floor  room  will  be  the  same,  but  the  ceiling  only  one- 
third  the  height ;  gained  an  accession  to-day  to  our  furni- 
ture of  three  washstands,  bowls  and  pitchers, — quite  an 
acquisition  as  it  will  give  a  wash  basin  to  each  six  men 
instead  of  each  twelve,  about  dusk,  one  of  the  prisoners, 
Mr.  Sturdevant,  was  released  and  bade  us  adieu;  locked  up 
at  sun-set ;  no  supper  :  being  provided  with  but  two  meals 
per  day, — enough  however. 

Terrific  storm  all  the  afternoon  and  night ;  waves  break- 
ing over  the  sea  walls ;  and  throwing  spray  to  the  top  of 
the  Fort  walls,  tried  to  get  to  the  rear  early  in  the  evening 
but  found  it  impossible  to  face  the  wind  and  spray  ;  was 
aroused  during  the  night  by  the  sergeant  coming  in  to 


25 

count  the  prisoners  ; — the  Fort  barge  had  disappeared  and 
it  was  feared  some  of  us  had  escaped. 

SEPTEMBER  28.  Arose  at  six  and  attended  to  domestic 
duties — making  bed,  &c., — learned  that  the  barge  was 
stolen  last  night  by  two  sentinels,  who  succeeded  in  mak- 
ing their  escape  during  the  noise  of  the  storm  ; — the 
empty  boat  was  found  this  morning  on  the  Staten  Island 
shore.  Excellent  breakfast  at  eight — wrote  to  William 
Jones,  New  York,  to  send  me  another  bed,  some  blankets, 
bed  linen,  towels,  &c.,  &c., — and  gave  an  order  to  Sergeant 
Graves  to  purchase  for  me  a  writing  table,  some  candle- 
sticks, (bottles  are  very  inconvenient  as  they  will  topple 
over,)  pitchers,  tumblers,  tin  cups,  water  buckets,  &c.; 
as  there  is  every  prospect  of  our  remaining  here  for  some 
time,  I  shall  go  regularly  to  house-keeping  ;  after  break- 
fast, lost  another  of  our  room-mates,  Mr.  Wallis,  who  was 
removed  through  the  kind  intervention  of  Mr.  Davis  to 
better  quarters  ;  sorry  to  part  with  him,  but  glad  for  his 
own  sake ;  received  in  his  place  a  new  prisoner,  an  Eng- 
lishman named  Brayne,  hailing  from  Tennessee,  making 
the  number  now  in  our  room  thirty-six.  Passed  the 
morning  in  reading,  writing,  with  some  exercise,  and  in 
learning  the  rules  and  regulations  posted  in  our  rooms  for 
our  information  ; — they  were  very  numerous  and  got  up  in 
the  most  pompous  style  ; — the  commander,  in  signing  his 
name,  imitated  the  famous  signature  of  "  JOHN  HANCOCK." 
We  were  ordered  to  be  respectful  and  obedient  to  the 
soldiers,  who  in  turn  were  ordered  to  speak  to  us  always 
in  a  "peremptory  "  manner;  we  were  directed  to  have  our 
rooms  cleaned  up  before  nine  o'clock,  when  they  would  be 
inspected  ;  we  were  to  visit  the  water  closet  not  over  four 
times  during  the  day  and  twice  during  the  night,  and  the 
sentinels  were  expressly  charged  not  to  permit  us  to 
"loiter  there;"  we  were  to  put  out  the  lights  at  quarter 
past  nine,  (the  garrison  clock  from  some  cause  or  other 
was  kept  three-quarters  of  an  hour  too  fast;)  we  were 
informed  that  ^conversation"  after  that  hour  was  "strict- 
2 


26 

ly  prohibited;"  we  were  told  that  our  letters  must  be 
short,  plainly  written,  respectful  to  the  officers,  and  that 
each  letter,  no  matter  what  might  be  its  object  or  contents, 
should  have  the  following  postscript  added  to  it,  signed  by 
the  writer :  "  It  is  my  desire  that  this  letter,  or  any  part 
thereof,  shall  not  be  published  in  any  newspaper;"*  and  we 
were  notified  if  we  had  any  complaint  to  make,  we  could 
address  the  Commander  in  writing,  provided  it  was  done 
in  "  respectful  language." 

Spent  the  afternoon  in  visiting  the  neighbors  and  getting 
acquainted  with  them.  There  are  now  in  the  Fort  one  hun- 
dred and  seventeen  prisoners  confined  in  six  rooms.  Num- 
bers 1,  2,  3  and  4  are  small  casemates  fourteen  by  twenty- 
two  feet,  arched,  five  feet  high  at  the  spring  of  the  arch,  and 
eight  feet  in  the  centre,  with  two  very  small  slits  in  the  wall 
for  windows  and  no  ventilation  when  the  door  is  closed,  and 
have  respectively,  nine,  fifteen,  ten  and  nine  occupants.  The 
inmates  of  No.  2  are  captured  privateersmen  and  sailors, 
taken  in  attempting  to  run  the  blockade,  and  are  all  kept 
in  chains,  not  allowed  to  have  beds,  or  permitted  to  take 
any  exercise ;  they  sleep  on  the  naked  floor  with  their 
chains  on.  Some  charitable  people  offered  to  furnish  them 
with  beds,  but  the  commander  refused  permission.  The 
sailors  (not  privateersmen)  are  with  one  exception  British 
subjects,  and  were  captured  on  British  vessels  bound  from 
Nova  Scotia  to  North  Carolina.  The  week  before  we 
arrived  there  were  twenty-eight  confined  in  that  room; 
part  were  released  on  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to  the 
United  States,  and  part  sent  to  the  Tombs  in  New  York. 


*  This  regulation  was,  for  a  while,  a  source  of  amusement,  letters  were 
daily  sent  to  New  York  for  such  little  articles  as  the  prisoners  required, 
one  would  want  a  hat,  a  shirt  or  a  pair  of  boots  half-soled,  another  a  tin 
cup,  a  pack  of  cards,  a  pound  of  tobacco,  a  wash  bowl  or  some  other 
article  of  crockery,  and  at  the  foot  of  each  letter  would  be  the  required 
postscript — ''  It  is  my  desire  that  this  letter,  or  any  part  thereof,  shall  not 
be  published  in  any  newspaper.'11 

Finally  the  thing  became  so  ridiculous  that  it  was  dropped  on  both  sides 
by  common  consent. 


27 

No.  5  is  a  battery  room  with  four  cannon  and  thirty-six 
occupants,  fifty  by  twenty-two  feet. 

No.  6  is  also  a  battery  room,  sixty-six  by  twenty-two 
feet,  with  thirty-eight  occupants. 

Among  the  prisoners  may  be  found  representatives  of 
every  grade  of  society  or  condition  of  life,  of  the  highest 
development  of  intellect,  and  of  its  lowest  grade,  even  to 
the  idiot — one  of  the  latter  having  been  sent  hither  from 
Kentucky  as  a  " prisoner  of  State"!!!  instead  of  being 
sent  to  a  lunatic  asylum. 

Among  the  prisoners  are  those  who  have  been,  or  are, 
Governors  of  States,  Foreign  Ministers,  members  of  Con- 
gress and  of  different  State  Legislatures,  Mayor  and  Police 
Commissioners,  officers  of  the  Army  from  Colonels  to  Lieu- 
tenants; of  the  Navy  of  all  grades,  doctors,  civil,  naval 
and  military;  lawyers,  merchants,  farmers,  mechanics, 
(especially  machinists  and  inventors,  whom  the  Govern- 
ment regards  as  a  dangerous  class);  editors  of  newspapers, 
religious  and  political,  (Government  don't  like  them); 
soldiers,  sailors  and  privateersmen,  (called  by  courtesy 
"pirates.")  As  much  of  what  the  world  calls  "good 
society,"  and  perhaps  more  of  intelligence  and  cultivated 
intellect,  may  be  found  within  the  walls  of  this  prison 
than  could  be  found  outside  of  it,  even  in  a  party  of  the 
same  number  selected  for  the  purpose,  and  in  the  average 
of  the  aggregate,  far  more  than  would  be  met  with  in  our 
fashionable  places  of  resort. 

Twenty-seven  of  them  are  prisoners  of  war,  and  of  course 
subject  to  all  the  chances  of  war;  they  know  why  they  are 
here.  The  other  ninety  are  called  "Prisoners  of  State,"  a 
term  happily  hitherto  unknown  on  this  side  of  the  Atlantic, 
were  nearly  all  taken  from  their  beds  at  night  by  gangs  of 
armed  men,  by  the  orders  of  Wm.  H.  Seward,  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  not  permitted  to  pack  their  clothing,  or  even 
see  their  families ;  many  of  them  confined  in  loathsome 
jails  (in  chains  or  not,  according  to  the  whims  of  their 
guards)  before  reaching  here ;  none  of  them  arrested  by 
any  warrant  or  process  of  law,  but  hurried  off  by  night  to 


28 

prevent  the  possibility  of  any  rescue  by  means  of  the  law, 
and  not  one  of  them  knowing  why  he  was  arrested,  or  the 
existence  of  any  charge  against  him.  Who  could  have 
believed,  a  year  since,  that  in  that  short  space  of  time  a 
state  of  affairs  would  exist  here  that  could  only  find  a 
parallel  in  the  worst  days  of  Italy  or  Austria !  Who  does 
not  remember  how  our  sympathies  were  excited,  and  our 
indignation  aroused,  but  a  few  years  since,  in  reading  the 
accounts  of  midnight  domiciliary  arrests  in  Vienna,  Venice 
or  Naples,  and  how  we  wondered  that  a  people  could  be  so 
debased  and  degraded  as  to  submit  to  it ;  and  yet  we  now 
see  the  same  despotic  tyranny  exercised  in  our  boasted 
land  of  freedom,  only  by  a  mechanism  a  thousand  times 
coarser  and  more  brutal,  and  a  large  portion  of  the  people 
absolutely  applauding  it,  glorying  in  the  shame,  and 
boasting  of  the  degredation  and  destruction  of  the  liberties 
of  their  country. 

"  CASTE  AT  FORT  LAFAYETTE. 

"  Treason  is  frequently  regarded  as  a  gentlemanly  crime,  and  the  per- 
son guilty  of  it  often  pretends  to  a  daintiness  to  which  common  felons  are 
forbidden  to  aspire.  Hence  the  traitors  in  the  present  rebellion  claim  and 
receive  British  sympathy,  not  because  they  do  not  richly  deserve  the 
halter,  but  because  they  are  "gentlemen."  The  Tories  of  the  Revolu- 
tion made  similar  pretensions.  Rev.  Dr.  Duche  once  wrote  a  letter  to 
General  Washington,  urging  him  to  abandon  the  patriot  cause  on  the 
ground  that  he  was  a  gentleman,  whereas  the  members  of  Congress  from 
New  England  and  other  Revolutionary  leaders  were  not. 

"  A  gentleman  of  this  city,  a  native  of  a  Southern  State,  having  occasion 
to  visit  Fort  LaFayette,  was  addressed  upon  this  subject.  He  found  there 
ninety-seven  prisoners,  divided,  like  Hindoo  society,  into  four  castes, 
each  possessing  a  social  status  of  its  own. 

"  'When  we  first  came  here,'  said  his  informant,  'we  suffered  much  in- 
convenience, and  our  residence  was  made  disagreeable.  We  were  asso- 
ciated promiscuously  together,  not  classified,  and  were  confounded  with 
the  vulgar  characters  whom  the  Government  had  seen  fit  to  incarcerate 
with  us.  Gentlemen  of  refined  tastes  were  compelled  to  associate  with 
traders,  common  sailors,  and  the  like ;  to  sit  at  the  same  table  and  eat 
similar  food.  It  is  now  improved.  There  are  ninety-seven  of  us  here, 
and  we  have  been  divided  into  groups  and  companies,  more  in  accordance 
with  our  tastes,  making  it  much  pleasanter. 

" '  Thus  we  have  here  a  number  of  sailors.  They  constitute  two  classes. 
One  class  is  made  up  of  pirates  outright,  who  enlist  without  regard  to 


29 

principles  or  consequences.  The  other  is  composed  of  seamen  who  have 
been  employed  on  vessels  which  were  attempting  to  run  the  blockade. 
They  were  generally  engaged  upon  the  pretext  of  being  employed  in  the 
West  India  trade,  and  had  no  idea  or  knowledge  of  being  concerned  in 
acts  of  this  character. 

"  'Then  there  is  a  third  class — the  traders.  These  are  purely  mercen- 
ary. They  have  been  arrested  and  placed  here  for  such  offences  as  sup- 
plying arms  and  munitions  of  war  to  the  Rebels,  and  would  seldom  omit 
an  opportunity  for  traffic  if  money  was  to  be  made,  no  matter  what  was 
the  character  of  the  business.  Gentlemen  do  not  like  to  associate  with 
such  men  on  terms  of  familiarity. 

'"Among  the  gentlemen  present  are  ex- Governor  Morehead,  Mr. 
Faulkner,  Mr.  Smith,  Marshal  Kane,  the  Police  Commissioners  of  Balti- 
more, &c.  These  are  State  prisoners,  and  should  be  confined  in  a  sepa- 
rate place.  With  them  are  others  who  belong  to  a  sub-class — respectable 
men,  but  not  moving  in  higher  circles.  The  members  of  the  Legislature 
of  Maryland  are  of  this  character. ' 

"As  he  was  expatiating  upon  this  subject,  Marshal  Kane  came  along 
and  invited  our  informant  to  come  and  see  the  Legislature  of  Maryland  at 
dinner.  They  were  seated  in  an  apartment  at  a  plain  pine  table.  The 
food  was  bread  without  butter,  and  coffee  without  milk.  Each  man  had 
a  tin  cup,  but  no  other  table  service. 

"The  lack  of  these  elegances  greatly  annoys  the  'gentlemen'  at  Fort 
LaFayette,  and  they  are  of  the  opinion  that  they  ought  to  be  immured  in 
some  '  respectable'  place  of  confinement.  They  would  tolerate  their  con- 
dition of  durance  if  their  instincts  were  better  regarded." — N.  Y.  Post. 

This  is  a  specimen  of  the  bogus  letters  that  almost  daily 
appeared  in  the  New  York  papers.  No  such  visitor  was 
at  the  Fort;  no  such  conversation  occurred.  The  sailors 
and  privateersmen  whom  the  writer  separates  into  two 
classes  were  all  kept  in  one  room,  .and  all  in  irons;  the 
other  prisoners  were  herded  together  without  any  attempt 
at  classification,  save  that  about  forty  who  had  the  means 
to  incur  the  expense  formed  a  mess,  conducted  by  the  Ser- 
geant's wife,  who  drew  our  rations  and  charged  us  in  ad- 
dition fifty  cents  per  meal  and  gave  us  her  room  to  eat  in. 

Another  letter,  published  the  same  day  in  another  New 
York  paper,  described  our  fare  as  fully  equal  to  any  of  the 
New  York  hotels,  and  that  we  were  given  the  roof  of  the 
Fort  for  a  promenade,  where  we  could  be  seen  any  evening 
enjoying  the  beautiful  scenery  and  sunsets.  Said  roof  was 
of  shingles,  covered  with  moss,  and  pitched  at  an  angle  of 
forty-five  degrees. 


Among  the  "prisoners  of  State"  was  one  who  received 
his  discharge  a  few  days  since  ;  he  was  a  poor  deformed 
man,  who  made  his  hread  hy  selling  newspapers  on  the 
street ;  and  having  been  found  with  some  contraband  news- 
papers under  his  arm,  (the  New  York  Daily  News,*)  was  sent 
to  Fort  LaFayette  ;  his  captors,  perhaps  getting  ashamed 
of  it,  sent  orders  for  his  release  on  taking  that  universal 
panacea,  the  "oath  of  allegiance"  to  the  United  States 
"Government ;"  he  was  sent  for,  and  taken  to  the  command- 
er's office,  who  asked  him  if  he  were  willing  to  take  the 
oath  ;  he  replied,  certainly  he  was  willing  to  take  any  oath 
to  obtain  his  release,  and  would,  with  pleasure,  if  desired, 
swear  that  he  never  was  in  Fort  LaFayette,  and  never  heard 
of  such  a  place  ;  the  commander  then  commenced  reading 
the  oath,  but  the  news-man  stopped  him,  saying  he  would 
sign  it  and  swear  to  it,  but  would  not  read  or  listen  to  it, 
as  he  did  not  care  what  it  contained  ;  he  accordingly  took 
the  oath  in  his  own  way,  underwent  the  usual  search,  and 
departed  with  as  little  weight  on  his  conscience  as  if  he 
had  not  gone  through  the  necessary  form.  After  "lock- 
up" played  cards  on  the  gun  carriage  with  Mr.  Harrison, 
Frank  Howard,  and  Dr.  Thomas,  until  nine  and  went  to 
bed ;  much  annoyed  during  the  night  by  several  of  the 
prisoners  being  sick  and  having  to  call  the  guard  to  take 
them  to  the  rear,  my  bed  being  alongside  the  door,  I  was 
awakened  frequently  during  the  night,  had  to  go  out  my- 
self, and  in  the  dark  fell  over  a  broken  flag  staff  in  the 
yard  and  hurt  myself  badly — slept  cold  and  restless. 

SEPTEMBER  29. — Sunday.  Up  early,  made  a  cup  of  coffee 
and  smoked  a  cigar,  the  last  one  I  had  ;  made  bed  and  got 
ready  for  breakfast ;  after  breakfast,  had  a  visit  of  inspec- 
tion from  Commander  Wood,  the  first  time  he  has  honored 
us  with  his  presence  ;  then  an  official  visit  from  the  doctor 
of  the  garrison,  first  time  we  have  seen  him,  although  we 
tried  very  hard  to  get  a  sight  of  him  two  or  three  days 
ago,  when  one  of  the  prisoners  was  sick ;  pointed  out 
to  him  the  unhealthy  condition  of  our  quarters,  and  the 


31 

impossibility  of  preserving  our  health,  if  continued  in  them 
for  any  length  of  time.  The  doctor  fully  acknowledged 
the  case,  and  promised  to  make  a  report  setting  forth  the 
facts  :  said  report,  when  he  finds  time  to  make  it,  will  go 
to  Commander  Wood,  then  to  Col.  Burke  at  Fort  Hamilton, 
then  to  General  Scott,  then  to  the  War  Department,  and 
the  answer  will  come  back  through  the  same  channels,  so 
we  may  expect  in  a  few  weeks  some  answer  to  our  appeal 
for  a  modification  of  our  discomforts.  On  our  arrival  here, 
our  pockets  were  emptied  by  the  commandant,  who  kindly 
took  charge  of  our  finances,  and  informed  us  he  would 
accept  our  orders  on  him  for  necessary  expenses,  and  prom- 
ised to  send  us  a  receipt  for  the  money  he  had  taken  next 
morning  ;  as  the  receipt  did  not  come,  I  sent  a  special  mes- 
sage for  it,  and  obtained  it. 

Letters  distributed  to-day  ;  nothing  for  me  ;  no  religious 
services ;  so  occupied  the  morning  in  promenading  the 
court,  in  reading  the  newspapers  and  writing  ;  much  diffi- 
culty to-day  about  water  ;  we  were  put  on  short  allowance 
the  day  after  we  reached  here,  and  to-day  only  permitted 
to  draw  a  cup-full  at  a  time,  but  so  far  have  managed  to 
secure  a  little  to  wash  my  face  with  ;  what  little  we  get  is 
the  dregs  of  the  cistern  ;*  very  offensive  to  the  sight  and 
smell ;  I  have  counted  in  a  single  glass  twenty  fully  devel- 
oped tadpoles,  varying  in  length  from  a  quarter  to  five- 
eighths  of  an  inch — the  barbarity  of  this  treatment  may 
be  better  understood  when  it  is  stated  that  fresh  water  is 
very  abundant  within  half  a  mile,  and  there  are  empty 
cisterns  in  the  Fort  with  a  capacity  of  forty  thousand  gal- 
lons that  could  be  filled  by  the  water  boats  in  the  same 
manner  as  ships  are  supplied,  at  very  little  expense.  I 
suggested  this  to  the  commander,  who  replied  it  could  not 
be  done  without  permission  from  Washington. 

*I  have  since  been  informed  by  army  officers  that  the  Fort  had  not  been 
garrisoned  for  more  than  twenty  years,  and  the  cisterns  had  not  been 
cleaned  for  that  length  of  time,  which  accounts  for  their  filthy  condition  ;  it 
was  not  deemed  necessary  to  clean  them  for  the  occupants  of  a  "State 
Prison." 


32 

Dinner  Lat  four  ;  exercise  and  conversation  until  sixy 
when  the  doors  are  locked,  and  our  allowance  of  two  can- 
dles cut  up  and  distributed  ;  Mr.  Harrison  read  a  sermon 
for  us  ;  went  to  bed  at  nine,  and  had  a  good  night's  sleep. 

SEPTEMBER  30.  Delightful  morning  ;  feel  very  well,  and 
nearly  over  the  soreness  arising  from  my  fall ;  succeeded 
in  getting  permission  from  the  commander  to  employ  one 
of  the  soldiers  to  clean  up  our  room. 

Heretofore  we  have  had  our  washing  done  on  the  main 
land,  through  one  of  the  sergeants,  and  very  nicely  done, 
at  seventy-five  cents  per  dozen  ;  orders  were  issued  to-day 
that  in  future  no  clothes  should  be  sent  out  of  the  Fort  to 
be  washed,  and  gentlemen  who  desired  to  have  their  clothes 
washed  could  have  it  done  by  sending  them  to  the  com- 
mandant's quarters,  whose  wife  would  superintend  it ;  don't 
exactly  understand  how  the  clothes  of  over  a  hundred  per- 
sons can  be  washed  inside  the  Fort  when  we  can't  get  fresh 
water  to  wash  our  faces,  and  barely  enough  to  quench 
our  thirst ;  rather  think  it  is  a  financial  scheme  of  the 
Governor  to  increase  his  own  or  his  wife's  revenue  ;  passed 
the  morning  as  usual,  reading,  walking,  &c.;  after  dinner 
Mr.  Guthrie,  of  Virginia,  was  sent  for,  and  release' tendered 
him  on  condition  of  taking  the  oath,  which  he  declined, 
and  returned  to  his  quarters. 

Played  cards  in  the  evening  with  Governor  Morehead 
and  Mr.  Barr  on  the  top  of  the  washstand,  find  it  better 
for  that  purpose  than  the  gun  carriage,  but  expect  a  table 
soon,  having  sent  to  New  York  for  one.  With  our  limited 
light  it  is  impossible  to  read  at  night,  and  cards  are  our 
only  means  of  beguiling  the  time. 

OCTOBER  1.  Best  very  much  broken  by  the  noise  of  the 
sick  calling  the  Sergeant  of  the  Guard  to  take  them  to  the 
rear,  the  door  is  out  of  gear  and  opens  with  much  difficulty 
and  noise,  and  as  my  bed  is  but  three  feet  from  it,  I  get  the 
full  benefit ;  did  not  get  over  two  hours'  sleep  during  the 
whole  night. 


33 

Mail  this  morning,  brings  nothing  for  me,  five  days 
here,  and  not  a  line  from  home  ;  occupied  the  morning  in 
reading  the  papers,  writing  and  visiting  the  neighbors; 
find  many  agreeable  gentlemen  among  them.  Mr.  Henry 
May  had  a  visit  from  one  of  his  friends,  a  Major  in  the 
Federal  army,  and  a  long  conversation  with  him.  May 
freely  stated  the  inhuman  manner  in  which  we  were 
treated ;  officer  admitted  it  and  plead  stringency  of  orders 
from  Washington,  and  want  of  accommodations  at  Fort 
LaFayette  for  so  many  prisoners,  said  the  Government  was 
preparing  two  Forts  in  Boston  harbor  for  the  reception  of 
political  prisoners,  when  they  would  be  more  comfortable  ; 
this  looks  like  a  winter's  confinement  in  the  worst  climate 
in  the  United  States  ; — if  the  arrangements  are  no  better 
than  here,  we  shall  lose  half  our  number  before  spring ; 
many  of  them  being  old  men,  and  others  very  delicate  and 
frail  in  their  persons. 

After  dinner,  smoked  and  promenaded  until  sun-set, 
played  euchre  till  nine  and  went  to  bed. 

OCTOBER  2.  Up  at  day-break,  noisy  and  sleepless  night 
among  the  sick;  after  breakfast  visited  the  privateers' 
room;  found  seventeen  in  the  room, — found  thirteen  in 
chains,  three  cooking  for  the  other  prisoners,  and  one 
very  ill,  lying  on  the  floor  on  a  blanket,  receiving  no 
medical  attention,  whatever;  no  beds,  and  some  without 
blankets  ;  (some  discharged  last  week  being  British  sub- 
jects, nevertheless  required  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance 
to  the  United  States  ;)  took  them  some  bologna  sausage 
and  my  stock  of  soft  bread,  which  I  no  longer  require, 
and  made  a  pitcher  of  lemonade  for  the  sick  man  ;• — two 
of  the  political  prisoners  released  this  morning;  Mr.  Fisk 
of  New  Orleans,  who  bought  his  way  out,*  and  a  Mr.  Bate- 

*  The  only  person  who  appeared  to  have  free  access  to  the  Fort  and  the 
prisoners,  was  a  lawyer  from  New  York,  William  H.  Ludlow,  Esq. 

This  gentleman,  according  to  Fort  gossip,  had  been  at  one  time  the  law 
partner  of  Mr.  Seward,  and  was  ready,  at  any  moment,  for  a  proper 
consideration,  to  take  up  the  case  of  any  prisoner  who  was  wearied  of 


34 

man;  an  English  subject,  who  was  released  through  the 
intervention  of  Lord  Lyons.  Capital  thing,  now  a  days, 
to  be  a  subject  of  Queen  Victoria,  wish  my  great-great 
grandfather  had  staid  on  to'ther  side  the  water  ;  lost  one 
of  our  room-mates,  Mr.  Pitts,  who  takes  Mr.  Fisk's 
vacant  place  in  another  room,  but  gained  three  others, 
who  were  brought  in  to-day,  Mr.  Loyall  of  Norfolk,  Va., 
Mr.  Stevens  of  Charleston,  S.  C.,  and  Mr.  Butt  of  Ports- 
mouth, Va.;  all  lieutenants  in  the  Navy,  just  arrived  from 
long  voyages,  knowing  nothing  of  the  state  of  affairs  here, 
but  being  natives  of  the  South,  and  refusing  to  engage  in 
a  war  with  their  own  people,  taken  out  of  their  ships  and 
sent  here  ;  they  were  fortunate  in  bringing  their  mattresses 
and  bedding  with  them,  as  nothing  is  supplied  now  to  the 
new  comers  but  an  iron  gridiron  bedstead. 

Passed  the  balance  of  the  morning  in  reading  and  visit- 
ing the  other  prisoners,  sent  very  polite  note  to  Sergeant  of 
the  G-uard  for  a  bottle  of  my  whiskey  ;  (which  was  taken 
from  me  for  safe  keeping  at  the  gate  on  my  arrival)  re- 
ceived it,  took  one  drink  and  passed  it  round,  bottle  came 
back — empty.  After  dinner  promenaded  for  an  hour  and 
retired  to  my  den,  received  a  few  articles  I  ordered  from 
New  York,  as  did  most  of  the  others,  small  pine  table, 
bucket,  tin  cup,  wash  bowl,  &c.,  &c.,  and  half  a  dozen 
candlesticks,  and  last,  but  not  least,  a  box  of  good  sperm 


Fort  life ;  he  received  a  number  of  fees,  but  on  the  whole  was  not  as 
successful,  nor  found  it  as  profitable,  as  did  an  eminent  lawyer  of  Balti- 
more, who  was  employed  for  the  same  purpose.  Some  of  the  prisoners 
were  disposed  to  give  Ludlow  the  preference,  supposing  his  former  con- 
nexion with  Seward  would  give  him  the  inside  track — but,  in  November, 
an  order  came  to  Fort  Warren,  from  Mr.  Seward,  repudiating  lawyers  in 
general  and  Ludlow  in  particular,  and  forbidding  the  prisoners  to  employ 
any  of  them,  nevertheless,  the  Baltimore  lawyer  was  subsequently  and 
successfully  employed. 

Ludlow,  finding  himself  thus  shut  out,  turned  his  attention  to  military 
matters  and  was  made  a  Major  and  soon  after  a  Colonel ;  he  was  the 
Military  Secretary  of  General  Dix,  in  Baltimore,  and  is  now  the  Commis- 
sioner for  the  Exchange  of  Prisoners,  in  both  positions  I  have  always 
heard  him  kindly  spoken  of. 


35 

candles,  so  am  now  independent  of  the  United  States  as  far 
as  artificial  light  is  concerned ;  threw  away  the  candlestick 
bottles,  lighted  four  candles,  and  in  honor  of  the  event, 
got  up  a  game  of  euchre  on  my  new  pine  table.  Such  a 
flood  of  light  had  never  before  been  witnessed  in  Battery 
Room  No.  6,  Fort  LaFayette,  and  as  merit  always  meets 
its  reward  (poetically)  I  won  enough  to  pay  for  the  light, — 
however,  it  won't  amount  to  much,  as  none  of  the  losers 
have  a  cent  in  their  pockets,  but  to  make  the  game  more 
interesting,  we  imagined  the  money  on  the  table.  Went 
to  bed  at  nine,  and  for  the  first  time  had  an  uninterrupted 
sleep  till  morning. 

OCTOBER  3.  Up  at  daylight  and  made  a  thorough  ablu- 
tion, having  contrived  to  get  fresh  water  enough  for  the 
purpose ;  spent  a  couple  of  hours  in  cleaning  up  my  house- 
hold furniture,  and  finding  places  for  it;  find  a  gun  car- 
riage almost  equal  to  a  closet  for  stowing  things  away. 

Visited  sick  privateer;  Fort  Doctor  does  not  pay  the 
slightest  attention  to  him,  Drs.  Mills  and  Lynch  of  our 
party  got  permission  to  visit  and  attend  to  him — sent  him 
some  lemons  and  loaf  sugar. 

Still  no  letter  from  home  or  from  New  York  whither  I 
wrote  a  week  ago  for  bedding,  &c.,  my  letters  have 
certainly  been  suppressed ;  wrote  home  again  ;  seven  of  the 
privateers  removed  this  morning  to  the  jail  in  New  York, 
leaving  but  ten  in  their  room. 

Unexpected  liberality  to-day  on  the  part  of  the  Gov- 
ernment ;  each  one  in  our  room  who  was  without  bedding, 
furnished  with  a  very  good  moss  mattress,  very  scant  in 
size,  that  is,  in  length,  breadth  and  thickness ;  a  pillow 
and  pillow  slip  and  two  cotton  sheets,  great  rejoicing 
thereat ;  more  trouble  about  drinking  water,  not  allowed 
to  draw  a  pitcher  full,  may  take  a  glass  to  the  pump — 
nothing  more — great  disgust  of  Dr.  Thomas  on  viewing 
the  small  tadpoles  in  his  glass  of  water  as  he  held  it  up 
to  the  light  to  examine  it,  before  putting  it  to  his  lips ; 
would  have  given  a  five  dollar  bill  for  his  photograph  at 


36 

that  moment,  with  the  expression  of  mingled  horror, 
loathing  and  disgust  depicted  on  his  countenance;  told 
him  if  the  tadpoles  could  stand  it,  he  certainly  could,  and 
down  it  went,  with  an  awfully  wry  face.  Lost  another 
prisoner  to-day,  Mr.  Gruthrie  of  Petersburg,  Virginia ; 
released  on  parole  of  honor  not  to  visit  or  correspond  with 
the  South. 

Had  a  talk  to-day  with  one  of  the  sergeants  about  the 
insolent  manner  in  which  the  sentries  speak  to  the 
prisoners.  The  garrison  consists  of  eighty-four  men,  all 
of  them  Irish  except  two  sergeants,  and  one  private,  who 
is  German  ;  the  privates  are,  as  a  body,  the  most  villian- 
ous  looking  set  of  miscreants  I  ever  laid  eyes  on,  and  their 
behavior  is  in  perfect  consonance  with  their  personal 
appearance ;  several  of  them  are  known  to  the  naval  officers 
among  us  as  having  been  in  the  marine  service,  and  been 
drummed  out  as  incorrigible.  The  three  sergeants  are 
really  decent  men  in  their  sphere,  were  old  army  soldiers, 
sent  to  the  Fort  as  drill  officers,  and  possess  as  much  in- 
telligence and  more  good  manners  than  would  be  found  in 
the  average  of  the  volunteer  colonels  and  majors  in  the 
Federal  service. 

The  Lieutenant  Commanding  was  a  Baggage  Master 
or  Conductor  on  the  Springfield  Bail  Koad  in  Illinois, 
and  was  detailed  by  his  employers  to  take  charge  of 
Mrs.  Lincoln's  baggage  when  she  removed  to  Washington, 
which  duty  he  performed  so  well,  that  he  was  rewarded 
with  a  commission  in  the  United  States  regular  army  ;  a 
coarse,  vulgar  fellow  without  the  remotest  idea  of  what 
belonged  to  his  position  as  an  officer  in  the  army,  or  even 
the  jailor  of  a  political  prison, — but  with  all  the  pomposity 
common  to  his  class  and  calibre,  when,  placed  in  a  position 
above  their  capacity. 

The  sergeant  promised  to  do  his  best  to  stop  the  insolence 
of  the  soldiers. 

Usual  game  of  cards  in  the  evening  ;  a  nice  cup  of  tea 
made  by  Mr.  Harrison,  with  some  Maryland  biscuit ; 
some  fine  music  from  Lieutenant  Butt's  violin,  and  to  bed. 


37 

OctOBER  4.  Anniversary  of  my  birth  day,  awoke  with 
a  severe  headache,  slept  badly  ;  headache  no  doubt  caused 
from  breathing  impure  air,  went  to  the  privateers'  room 
to  see  how  the  sick  man  was,  found  him  no  better.  "  Our 
keepers  grow  compassionate,"  guard  came  in  to  take  the 
chains  off  the  privateers'  legs  ;  the  chains  give  but  a  step 
of  twelve  inches,  and  noticed  that  the  poor  fellows,  after 
they  were  off,  from  the  force  of  long  habit,  still  took  the 
twelve  inch  step  ;  received  letters  from  home,  all  well, 
spent  the  morning  in  writing  and  visiting  neighbors, 
champagne  at  dinner  to-day,  present  to  our  mess  through 
Frank  Howard,  from  Hiram  Cranston,  of  the  New  York 
Hotel,  enjoyed  it  very  much.  My  talk  with  the  sergeant 
about  the  insolence  of  the  soldiers  has  had  some  effect,  for 
this  morning  one  of  them  came  into  our  room,  and  said 
very  politely,  "  Gentlemen,  the  hour  for  walking  has 
arrived,"  and  at  eight  o'clock  another  came  in  and 
said,  "Gentlemen,  breakfast  is  ready,"  being  the  first 
time  we  have  been  recognized  as  Gentlemen  !  in  this  den, 

Sick  privateer  removed  to-day  to  hospital  on  Staten 
Island,  through  the  representations  of  Mr.  Henry  May, 
who  wrote  to  his  brother,  Colonel  May,  to  use  his  influence 
to  have  him  removed  from  here,  where  death  was  certain. 

Spe'nt  the  afternoon  as  usual,  smoking,  walking  and 
gossiping  until  lock-up,  played  cards  for  an  hour  with 
Harrison,  Howard  and  Gordon,  listened  to  some  fine 
music  from  Lieutenant  Butt's  violin,  and  at  the  last  tap 
of  the  drum  went  to  bed.  The  drum  tells  us  when  to  get 
up,  when  to  go  to  our  rooms,  when  to  commence  undress- 
ing, and  when  to  put  out  the  lights  ; — I  am  getting  quite 
accustomed  to  it. 

OCTOBER  5.  Awoke  with  severe  pains  in  back  and  chest, 
and  return  of  Lumbago ;  made  coffee  and  drank  an  ex- 
cellent anti-fogmatic  concocted  by  Colonel  Kane  ;  after 
breakfast  headache  left  me,  and  in  all  probability  would 
not  have  returned  had  I  not  visited  No.  3,  where  my 
friends  had  some  good  whiskey,  and  I  took  just  one  drink 


38 

too  much ;  passed  the  morning  as  usual,  reading  the 
papers,  writing  and  gossip.  Dinner  at  four,  champagne 
again,  the  last  of  Mr.  Cranston's  kind  remembrance.  At 
five  o'clock  ordered  to  our  quarters  and  locked  up  for  half 
an  hour;  great  commotion  in  the  garrison,  drums  heat  to 
arms,  sally-port  closed,  and  cannon  fired  immediately  over 
us  in  the  second  story — supposed  it  was  to  drill  the  men 
for  a  sudden  attack,  but  subsequently  discovered  it  was  to 
bring  to  a  suspicious  looking  vessel  that  was  passing  out 
the  harbor  without  answering  the  signal  of  the  revenue 
cutter  ;  the  firing  of  the  cannon  shook  the  old  Fort  to  its 
foundation,  and  knocked  the  plaster  in  large  quantities 
from  the  walls  in  our  room ;  locked  up  again  at  six,  and 
went  to  bed  to  the  sound  of  Butt's  violin. 

OCTOBER  6. — Sunday.  Good  night's  rest,  although  very 
warm  and  close,  was  aroused  about  ten  o'clock  last  night 
by  fresh  arrival  of  prisoners — fourteen  in  number,  all  from 
Kentucky,  two  of  them  put  in  our  room,  making  our  num- 
ber now  thirty-six. 

Most  of  them  appear  to  be  farmers,  arrested  doubtless 
to  intimidate  their  respective  neighborhoods  ;*  all  of  them 

*  How  far  this  supposition  was  true  may  be  judged  from  the  following, 
taken  from  the  printed  proceedings  of  the  United  States  Senate — tie  sub- 
ject of  arbitrary  arrests  being  under  discussion. 

Mr.  Powell  said  he  desired  to  show  the  particular  nature  of  some  of 
these  cases  of  arrest,  and  the  personal  action  of  the  Secretary  of  State. 
He  read  a  letter  from  a  citizen  of  Kentucky,  who  he  said  was  highly 
respectable  and  an  undoubted  Union  man,  dated  Maysville,  May  5th,  1862, 
which  says : 

'  "While  Colonel  Stanton  of  this  city,  was  still  a  prisoner  at  Fort  LaFay- 
ette,  his  brother-in-law,  Colonel  Throop,  employed  (through  an  agency) 
Mr.  Charles  T.  Mitchell,  of  Flemingsburg,  formerly  a  member  of  Con- 
gress from  New  York,  and  as  I  knew  an  intimate  friend  and  correspond- 
ent of  Seward's,  to  accompany  him  (Throop)  to  Washington,  to  promote 
Colonel  Stanton' s  release.  They  were  joined  at  Washington  by  Frederick 
Stanton,  a  brother  of  Colonel  S.  The  three  called  on  Seward,  T. 
being  introduced  by  M.  They  opened  their  mission  by  remarking  that 
they  had  called  to  see  him  in  reference  to  the  Maysville  prisoners.  He 
abruptly  replied  that  those  prisoners  would  not  be  released.  Fred,  asked : 
'  What  are  the  charges  against  my  brother  ?'  Seward  replied :  'There  are 


39 

without  a  particle  of  clothing,  except  what  they  had  on, 
and  no  money,  and  most  of  them  ragged  and  dirty  ;  Gov- 
ernor Morehead  immediately  set  to  work  to  procure  clothes 
for  them,  which  he  did  at  his  own  expense. 

At  ten  o'clock,  Lieutenant  Stevens  of  the  Navy  read  the 
Episcopal  Church  Service,  and  a  sermon  from  Spurgeon, 
to  a  large  audience,  in  our  room,  and  in  a  very  effective 
manner  ;  after  service,  visited  a  neighboring  room  where 
I  found  a  handsome  lunch  set  out,  received  partly  from 
kind  friends  in  Baltimore,  and  partly  from  New  York ; 
cold  ducks,  pickles,  brandy  peaches,  cheese,  biscuits,  &c., 
with  some  excellent  whiskey,  enjoyed  it  very  much, 
regretted  it  was  not  in  my  power  to  reciprocate,  wrote  for 
an  hour  until  dinner  ;  champagne  again  on  the  table, 
the  kind  gift  of  Pierce  Butler,  of  Philadelphia,  to  our 
mess — water  to-day  undrinkable,  each  glass  would  average 
a  dozen  tadpoles  from  one-quarter  to  one-half  inch  long 
without  counting  the  smaller  fish ;  can't  use  it  without 
straining,  made  a  private  arrangement  with  sergeant 
Graves  to  furnish  me  with  two  pitchers  of  iced  spring 
water,  which  he  can  get  from  the  main  land,  to  be 
delivered  at  sun-set,  daily  ;  this  enabled  me  to  give  a 


no  charges  against  him  on  file,'  and  added  that  the  business  of  his  office 
pressed  him  too  much  to  entertain  inquiries  or  give  explanations.  One 
inquired  if  it  was  his  purpose  to  keep  citizens  imprisoned  against  whom 

no   charge  was  made?     He  answered  hastily:   'I   don't  care  a  d n 

whether  they  are  guilty  or  innocent.  I  saved  Maryland  by  similar  arrests, 
and  so  I  mean  to  hold  Kentucky.'  To  this  it  was  remarked  that  the  Leg- 
islature and  public  sentiment  of  Kentucky  were  averse  to  such  arrests. 

'I   don't   care   a   d n   for  the   opinion   of  Kentucky,'  he  insultingly 

responded,  adding  that  what  he  required  was  to  hold  her  in  the  Union, 
and  make  her  fight  for  it ;  and  then  turning  fiercely  on  Mitchell,  demand- 
ed of  him,  '  Why  the  hell  are  you  not  at  home  fighting  traitors,  instead  of 
seeking  their  release  here  ?'  This  is  the  substance  of  the  interview,  as 
related  to  me  by  Col.  Throop.' 

"  Mr.  Powell  also  referred  to  a  letter  he  had  received  from  A.  B.  Eshel- 
man,  a  person  whom  he  did  not  know,  who  stated  that  he  is  a  citizen  of 
Bourbon  county,  Ky.,  and  has  been  seven  months  a  prisoner,  without 
charge,  &c.  This  letter  is  endorsed  by  L.  C.  Brown,  Post  Surgeon  at 
Camp  Chase,  Ohio,  saying  he  believed  the  statements  therein  to  be  true, 
and  that  Eshelman  is  a  good  Union  man." 


40 

glass  of  water  to  each  of  room-mates  during  the  evening, 
read  Tennyson  and  Macauley  until  nine  and  went  to  bed. 

OCTOBER  7.  Usual  morning  routine,  prison  life  becom- 
ing very  monotonous,  one  day  marvellously  like  another  ; 
large  arrival  of  prisoners  to-day — three  North  Carolina 
gentlemen,  passengers  on  board  an  English  vessel  from 
Halifax  to  Hatteras  Inlet ; — not  being  aware  of  the  cap- 
ture of  the  Forts,  and  seeing  the  Confederate  flag  still 
flying  at  Fort  Hatteras,  ran  in  and  anchored  under  the 
guns  of  the  Fort,  and  did  not  know  any  better  until  the 
Federal  officers  came  on  board  and  took  possession  of  them, 
Captain  Berry  of  Brooklyn,  Commander  of  one  of  the 
New  York  and  Charleston  steamers,  and  eighteen  sailors 
taken  from  various  vessels,  which  were  captured  while  en- 
deavoring to  run  the  blockade ;  most  of  them  from  English 
vessels ;  they  were  all  immediately  put  in  irons  and  quar- 
tered in  the  privateers'  room,  making  thirty  in  that  room 
fourteen  by  twenty-two  feet — and  equalising  the  arch,  but 
six  and  a  half  feet  in  height — almost,  if  not  quite  equal 
to  the  Black  Hole  of  Calcutta — Captain  Berry  *  placed  in 

*  Captain  Berry  was  very  much  alarmed  until  he  reached  our  room,  he 
was  kept  in  the  Guard  House  until  all  the  prisoners  who  came  with  him 
were  ironed,  and  took  it  for  granted  he  was  to  share  their  fate,  until  he 
was  brought  to  other  quarters,  although  naturally  red  in  the  face,  he  came 
in  very  pale;  we  found  him  an  agreeable  companion,  intelligent,  and 
liberal  with  his  means,  he  slept  along  side  of  me  when  Mr.  Harrison  left 
our  room.  He  was  released  in  the  early  part  of  May  and  died  shortly 
after  his  arrival  home  in  Brooklyn,  from  a  fit  of  apoplexy,  with  which  he 
had  several  times  been  threatened  while  in  Fort  Warren.  He  was  the 
pioneer  of  steam  navigation  between  New  York  and  Charleston,  and 
commanded  the  Steamer  Columbia  at  the  commencement  of  the  War,  his 
offence  was  hoisting  the  Palmetto  flag  while  going  into  Charleston ;  he 
made  several  trips  after  the  secession  of  South  Carolina,  and  was  in  the 
habit  of  displaying  the  State  flag  of  South  Carolina  when  entering  Charles- 
ton harbor,  and  the  United  States  flag  when  entering  New  York  harbor. 
He  was  a  large  property  holder  in  both  cities.  The  telegram  on  which 
he  was  arrested  described  him  as  "  a  dangerous  man  going  at  large." — 
The  Palmetto  flag  had  been  used  by  him  as  above  stated  for  fifteen  years, 
as  the  private  signal  of  his  ship,  a  finer  specimen  of  the  frank,  manly,  and 
open  hearted  sailor,  or  a  less  "dangerous"  man  to  the  Government  could 
not  be  found. 


41 

our  room,  made  a  bed  for  him  with  my  rocking  chair  and 
some  benches,  and  a  pallet  of  straw, — drinking  water 
entirely  out,  received  my  two  pitchers  of  ice  water  from 
sergeant  Graves  and  served  it  round  in  our  room,  a  small 
glass  full  to  each,  played  cards  for  a  couple  of  hours  and 
went  to  bed  ;  awful  stench  in  room  from  some  undiscovered 
cause. 

OCTOBER  8.  Awoke  at  day  break  after  a  good  night's 
sleep,  which  surprised  everybody  in  the  room  except  the 
Governor,  as  all  of  them  were  awake  most  of  the  night 
from  the  stench  and  closeness  of  the  room  ;  did  not  make 
coifee  this  morning  as  the  tadpoles  predominated  over  the 
water ;  at  nine,  a  north-east  rain  storm  set  in,  which 
confined  us  to  our  rooms  and  compelled  us  to  put  on 
overcoats  ;  but  we  will  be  compensated  by  the  cisterns 
being  partially  filled,  which  will  give  us  water  to  drink. 
Mail  came  in,  no  letters  for  me,  but  received  the  Baltimore 
papers,  the  "American"  full  of  lies  in  regard  to  us,  and 
known  to  be  so  by  the  Editors, — had  to  remain  in  doors 
all  the  morning  in  consequence  of  the  storm,  very  cold  and 
raw,  moderated  in  the  afternoon  sufficient  to  promenade 
for  an  hour  ;  usual  game  of  cards  in  the  evening,  and  to 
bed  at  nine. 

OCTOBER  9.  Very  cold  and  raw  morning  ;  how  we  are 
to  remain  here  during  the  winter  can't  imagine,  our 
room  is  very  much  exposed  to  the  weather,  with  a  brick 
floor  and  no  fireplace  ;  and  when  the  doors  are  shut,  no 
light.  The  arrangements  here  for  prisoners  would  dis- 
grace any  half  civilized  nation.  Had  to  read  and  write 
to-day  with  an  overcoat  on  and  a  blanket  wrapped  round 
me ;— heard  from  home,  wife  very  much  distressed  at  my 
absence,  and  the  prospect  of  its  continuance;  at  noon 
Mrs.  Thomas,  Mrs.  Warfield,  Mr.  Daniel  Warfield,  and 
the  sister  and  neice  of  Mr.  Harrison,  visited  the  Fort  by 
special  permit  of  General  Scott,  and  were  permitted  to 
converse  with  their  friends  for  an  hour  in  the  presence  and 
2* 


42 

hearing  of  the  Commandant;  saw  them  at  a  distance  and 
thought  it  an  unpleasant  interview  for  all  the  parties  ; 
they  all  seemed  to  think  our  detention  would  not  be 
very  long. 

Fourteen  of  the  sailor  prisoners  discharged  to-day — 
mostly  subjects  of  foreign  powers,  all  of  them  required  to 
take  the  oath  of  allegiance, — one  of  them,  Captain  Bark- 
lie  of  Nassau,  Captain  of  an  English  vessel  from  Nassau 
to  Charleston,  prevented  two  or  three  of  his  own  crew  from 
taking  the  oath,  by  telling  them  they  would  lose  the  pro- 
tection of  their  own  government,  for  which  interference 
he  is  promised  punishment,  and  will  doubtless  receive  it.* 

Had  a  visit  from  Major  Glitz,  an  officer  from  Fort  Ham- 
ilton, who  went  through  our  room,  and  agreed  with  us 
that  the  accommodations  were  disgraceful  to  the  Govern- 
ment, but  could  do  nothing  for  us, — was  a  soldier  and  had 
to  obey  orders, — said  the  scarcity  of  water  should  be  obvia- 
ted by  sending  water  from  New  York  twice  a  week, — 
advised  us  to  draw  up  a  statement  of  the  facts  and  forward 
it  to  the  President, — did  so,  which  was  signed  by  most  of 
the  prisoners  ;  wrote  home  giving  some  description  of  our 
prison  life  ;  received  a  small  lot  of  stationery,  my  portion 
of  a  present  from  Miss  Lucas  of  Baltimore,  to  the  Balti- 
more delegation^  very  opportune,  for  most  of  mine  had 
been  used  by  my  fellow  prisoners. 

After  dinner,  usual  exercise,  and  cards  at  night  with 
Messrs.  May,  Howard,  and  Thomas  ;  the  drum  sent  us  to 
bed  at  half  past  eight,  the  rules  give  us  to  9.15,  but  to  suit 
the  convenience  of  somebody,  the  Fort  clock  is  made  too 
fast  by  three-quarters  of  an  hour. 


*  He  did  receive  it,  for  a  day  or  two  afterwards  he  was  removed  to  the 
common  Jail  in  New  York,  and  a  couple  of  weeks  afterwards  sent  to  Bed- 
loe's  Island,  where  he  was  kept  inclose  confinement; — on  the  general 
transfer  of  prisoners  to  Fort  Warren,  he  was  sent  thither  and  quartered 
in  No.  45, — he  Was  there,  however,  subject  to  no  personal  indignity, 
and  in  January  was  sent  to  New  York,  where  they  wanted  him  as  a  wit- 
ness in  some  trial  for  the  condemnation  of  a  ship ;  being  an  English  sub- 
ject, I  suppose  he  has  been  released. 


43 

OCTOBER  10.  Bad  night's  sleep  ;  much  interruption  from 
the  sick  calling  the  sentinel  to  take  them  to  the  rear ; 
morning  very  cold  and  unpleasant ;  walked  continually  as 
the  only  means  of  keeping  warm  ;  wrote  to  General  Dix, 
asking  him  to  have  my  lost  baggage  hunted  up  ;  and  home 
to  say  I  was  well,  rather  a  story,  for  I  am  quite  unwell  to- 
day ;  received  a  long  letter  from  home  ;  wife  very  gloomy  ; 
gloomy  myself;  can't  help  it ;  why  am  I  dragged  from  my 
home  and  family  and  incarcerated  in  this  filthy  prrison, 
without  the  slightest  charge  or  accusation,  and  not  even 
permitted  to  ask  why  this  outrage  has  been  perpetrated — 
can  or  will  a  just  God  permit  these  things  to  continue  ?* 

This  morning  a  boat  arrived  from  New  York  with  three 
thousand  gallons  of  water,  which  was  emptied  into  one  of 
the  cisterns  ;  it  was  badly  wanted,  for  what  little  water 
that  remained  in  the  cistern  had  become  too  offensive  to 
drink,  even  with  straining.  Weather  cold  and  raw  all 
day,  wrote  with  overcoat  on  and  blanket  wrapped  round 
my  legs;  how  we  will  get  through  the  winter  if  kept  in 
this  place,  God  only  knows  ;  the  Lumbago  has  returned, 
and  it  is  with  great  difficulty  and  pain  I  can  get  up  in  the 
morning  ;  several  of  our  number  are  now  sick,  and,  in 
addition,  a  cutaneous  disease  has  made  its  appearance 
among  us ;  six  of  my  room-mates  are  now  affected  by  it ;  it 
is  not  the  itch,  although  it  has  every  appearance  of  it  ; 
there  is  no  hospital  in  the  Fort,  and  the  sick  have  to  take 
their  chance  with  the  well. 

It  is  not  permitted  to  have  a  light  in  the  room  for  any 
purpose  after  quarter  past  nine  o'clock ;  Dr.  McGill  got 
permission  to-day  to  use  a  light,  temporarily,  (but  it  must 


*The  wife  of  one  of  my  fellow  prisoners  writes  to-day,  that  in  company 
with  one  or  two  other  ladies,  she  visited  the  President  to  obtain,  if  possi- 
ble, some  modification  of  our  treatment.. 

The  President  received  them  very  politely,  listened  to  all  they  had  to 
say,  and  informed  them  that  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  the  Baltimore 
prisoners,  they  were  Seward's  prisoners,  and  declined  interference. 

From  this  we  may  infer  that  each  head  of  the  Government  has  his  owri 
set  of  captives,  over  whom  he  exercises  exclusive  jurisdiction  and  control. 


44 

be  put  out  immediately,)  if  he  found  it  necessary  to  give 
medicine  to  the  sick  during  the  night,  and  it  must  he  used 
for  no  other  purpose.  Took  hut  little  exercise  to-day,  heing 
cold  and  rainy,  and  suffering  much  from  my  hack  ;  after 
dark  tried  to  pass  an  hour  at  cards  hut  had  to  give  it  up 
and  go  to  hed.  Another  visit  from  the  garrison  doctor  ; 
he  don't  think  the  cutaneous  disorder  spreading  among  us 
of  any  consequence. 

OCTOBER  11.  Passed  a  very  restless  night,  suffered  much 
from  Lumhago,  and  scarcely  able  to  get  about  this  morn- 
ing; weather  damp  and  murky;  visited  the  "United 
States  Hotel,"  as  it  is  pleasantly  termed  by  those  who 
live  at  it,  as  do  all  but  the  forty  who  compose  our  mess  ; 
inspected  the  food  and  table  furniture — each  boarder  fur- 
nished with  a  tin  plate  and  cup,  an  iron  spoon  and  knife, 
four  ounces  of  fat  pork,  a  slice  of  bread  and  a  tin  cup  of 
coffee,  so-called,  sweetened  with  molasses — tasted  the  cof- 
fee, but  could  not  detect  the  presence  of  the  berry,  perhaps 
a  chemical  analysis  might  detect  a  trace  of  it,  perhaps  not. 
This  is  the  bill  of  fare  for  breakfast  and  supper  ;  at  dinner 
it  is  varied  by  the  substitution  of  bean  soup  for  coffee,  and 
occasionally  an  Irish  potato — an  application  for  "  more" 
would  astonish  the  head  cook  as  much  as  Oliver  Twist's 
did  the  work-house  beadle. 

Several  other  messes  are  now  in  process  of  formation 
who  propose  to  draw  their  rations  and  cook  them  them- 
selves, with  such  additions  as  they  can  get  from  New 
York.  Fifteen  or  twenty  cents  a  day  additional  will  ena- 
ble them  to  live  very  well,  but  they  will  find  cooking  in 
their  rooms  a  great  nuisance. 

A  new  prisoner  came  in  to-day,  Mr.  De  Costa,  of  Charles- 
ton, and  one  discharged,  Mr.  Anderson.  Dr.  McG-ill,  of 
Hagerstown,  was  sent  for  to  the  office,  and  offered  his 
release  on  taking  the  new  oath,  hut  declined  and  returned 
to  his  room. 

Mr.  Henry  May  received  notice  in  the  afternoon  of  the 
death  of  his  brother.  He  asked  permission  of  the  Govern- 


45 

ment  some  days  since  to  visit  his  brother,  that  he  might 
have  the  melancholy  pleasure  of  "being  with  him  in  his 
last  moments,  which  was  refused,  hut  at  eight  o'clock  this 
evening  a  message  came  that  he  might  go  to  the  funeral, 
on  his  parole  of  honor  to  return  as  soon  as  it  was  over ;  he 
left  immediately  for  New  York ;  hope  he  will  not  return, 
as  another  month's  confinement  in  this  place  will  certainly 
kill  him  in  his  delicate  state  of  health  ;  took  a  parting 
glass  with  him  and  sent  message  to  my  family. 

Marshal  Kane  was  removed  to-day  to  Fort  Columbus,  on 
Governor's  Island,  five  or  six  miles  from  here.  He  has 
been  very  unwell  for  some  time,  and  made  such  representa- 
tions of  his  condition  as  induced  the  Government  to  remove 
him  to  Fort  Columbus,  where  he  will  have  much  better 
quarters  and  larger  space  to  exercise. 

OCTOBER  12.  Awoke  much  refreshed,  slept  better  than 
for  several  nights  ;  weather  cold,  but  clear  and  bracing ; 
put  on  overcoat  and  blanket  to  read  the  paper.  Another 
arrival  to-day,  Mr.  Carter,  of  Baltimore,  an  old  friend  ; 
surprised  to ,  see  him  here ;  advised  him  to  take  Henry 
May's  vacant  place  in  our  mess,  which  he  did,  and  was 
very  thankful  when  he  found  out  how  he  would  have  fared 
had  there  not  been  a  vacancy  for  him.  Passed  the  day  as 
usual,  reading,  writing,  smoking  and  walking  ;  locked  up 
in  our  rooms  this  morning  for  an  hour  while  the  garrison 
were  firing  on  a  passing  vessel  to  bring  her  "to,  which  they 
did  with  a  vengeance — one  of  the  balls  passing  clean 
through  her,  as  she  did  not  come  about  as  quick  as  the 
commander  thought  she  might ;  we  could  see  the  opera- 
tion through  the  embrasures  in  our  room.  On  such  occa- 
sions we  are  always  locked  up  ;  perhaps  they  think  we  might 
take  the  Fort  while  they  are  busy  up  stairs  with  the  guns. 
Took  Mr.  Carter  around  and  introduced  him  to  make  him 
feel  as  much  at  home  as  possible  ;  played  cards  after  dark 
with  Governor  Morehead  and  Mr.  Barr,  and  went  to  bed 
at  nine,  after  drinking  an  excellent  cup  of  tea  of  Mr.  Har- 
rison's concocting,  and  a  brandy  punch  of  my  own. 


OCTOBER  13. — Sunday.  Delightful  morning,  cold  and 
bracing  ;  capital  night's  sleep  and  very  much  refreshed  ; 
spent  an  hour  in  putting  things  to  rights  at  my  end  of  the 
room  and  in  making  coffee  for  as  many  of  my  immediate 
neighbors  as  the  machine  would  admit  of.  At  eleven 
church  service  and  reading  a  sermon  by  Lieutenant  Stevens 
to  a  very  attentive  audience  ;  special  prayers  offered  for 
Mrs.  George  S.  Gelston,  a  lady  living  opposite  the  Fort, 
who  never  lets  a  day  pass  without  sending  something  to 
the  prisoners,  fruits,  flowers,  &c.,  and  often  more  substan- 
tial articles,  but  for  her  the  poor  privateers  and  sailors 
would  have  been  without  clothing  or  shoes  ;  nor  is  her 
kindness  confined  to  the  prisoners  here,  those  who  have 
been  removed  to  the  jail  in  New  York  are  equally  the  re- 
cipients of  her  bounty.  She  was  for  a  while  prohibited  by 
orders  from  Washington  from  sending  anything  to  the 
prisoners,  and  wrote  a  letter  to  Seward  in  which  she 
insisted  on  knowing  whether,  after  having  suspended  the 
Habeas  Corpus,  the  Constitution  and  the  Laws  of  the  coun- 
try, it  was  a  part  of  his  policy  to  suspend  the  Laws  of  Hu- 
manity. The  letter  was  published,  and  resulted  in  the 
restrictions  on  her  charities  being  removed.  After  service 
read  the  newspapers  from  home  and  from  New  York,  full, 
as  usual,  of  lies  in  relation  to  Maryland  ;  exercise  after 
dinner,  and  the  evening  church  service  read  at  five  o'clock 
by  Lieutenant  Stevens  ;  after  lock-up  read  the  English 
papers — London  Weekly  Dispatch,  Saturday  Review  and 
Dublin  Times  ;  they  seem  »to  understand  matters  in  this 
country  better  than  nine-tenths  of  our  own  people.  It  is 
really  refreshing  after  reading  the  scurrijous  political  pa- 
pers of  this  country  to  pick  up  a  dignified  English  Maga- 
zine or  Review  ;  a  cup  of  tea  made  by  Mr.  Harrison,  a  nice 
punch,  and  to  bed. 

OCTOBER  14.  Very  cold  morning  ;  had  to  wear  over- 
coats and  blankets  to  enable  me  to  read  the  papers  ;  if  the 
devil  don't  get  the  people  who  have  charge  of  us  it 
would  be  as  well  to  abolish  the  office  of  devil  altogether 


as  useless  ;  received  letters  to  day  from  C.  W.  Lentz,  Balti- 
more, and  Frank  Inloes,  New  York,  asking  what  they 
could  do  for  me  ;  also  from  Wm.  Jones,  New  York,  send- 
ing me  a  very  acceptable  supply  of  bed  clothing,  of  which 
I  was  much  in  need  ;  wrote  to  him  for  a  feather  bed  and 
some  other  articles  which  I  want.  This  morning  Wm.  L. 
Montague,  of  Baltimore,  sent  us  a  barrel  of  stores,  every- 
thing good  he  could  think  of.  May  God  bless  him. 

Several  prisoners  released  to-day,  Mr.  Wilder,  Mr.  Stan- 
nard  and  Mr.  Payne  ;  could  not  ascertain  the  conditions  of 
their  release  ;  and  one  new  arrival,  Colonel  Tyler,  of  the 
Confederate  Army,  who  was  quartered  in  our  room  ;  usual 
routine  for  the  day  and  evening — cards  at  night,  would 
have  read  in  preference  but  had  not  sufficient  light  and 
quiet ;  my  end  of  the  room  is  getting  to  be  a  favorite  place 
for  loafers. 

OCTOBER  15.  Much  trouble  among  tbe  sick  last  night, 
aggravated  by  the  refusal  of  the  Corporal  of  the  Guard  to 
permit  a  light  in  the  room  to  give  medicine  by,  notwith- 
standing the  commandant  had  given  permission  to  that 
effect ;  told  the  corporal  that  one  of  the  prisoners  .was  very 
sick,  he  replied  he  did  not  care  if  there  was,  we  should  not 
have  a  light,  so  sick  man  had  to  go  without  his  medicine. 

Beautiful,  bright  and  pleasant  morning,  more  like  May 
than  October  ;  was  locked  up  for  an  hour  while  they  were 
firing  at  some  passing  vessel ;  at  twelve  they  commenced 
firing  minute  guns  for  the  death  of  General  Gibson,  the 
first  one  of  which,  knocked  the  glass  out  of  the  embrasure 
window  next  to  me,  and  the  succeeding  ones  demolished 
sashes  of  most  of  the  other  embrasures ;  this  may  be 
regarded  as  a  calamity,  as  it  is  not  likely  they  will  be 
replaced  for  weeks,  and  we  shall  have  no  protection  what- 
ever from  the  weather,  unless  we  board  them  up,  which 
will  shut  out  what  little  of  light  we  have. 

Number  of  prisoners  in  the  Fort  to-day — room  No.  1,  ten; 
No.  2,  eleven  ;  No.  3,  nine  ;  No.  4,  nine  ;  No.  5,  thirty- 
five  ;  No.  6,  thirty-seven.  Quite  an  amusing  incident 


48 

occurred  this  morning:  one  of  the  Kentucky  "prisoners  of 
State,"  who  is  half  an  idiot,  went  on  the  Fort  wharf 
(which  was  against  the  rules)  and  stood  there  for  some 
time  looking  at  a  vessel  that  had  brought  a  load  of  fire- 
wood for  the  Fort ;  one  of  the  sentinels  noticing  him,  and 
supposing  him  to  he  one  of  the  crew  of  the  vessel,  went  up 
and  ordered  him  to  go  on  board,  and  not  dare  to  come  on 
the  wharf  again  without  permission  ;  this  the  fellow  refused, 
insisting  that  he  had  as  good  a  right  in  the  Fort  as  the 
soldier  had  ;  quite  an  altercation  ensued,  when  the  senti- 
nel attempted  to  drive  him  on  board  at  the  point  of  the 
bayonet,  but  "  Kentucky"  was  too  much  for  him  ;  some  of 
the  guard  came  to  the  rescue,  and  one  of  them,  recognising 
the  prisoner,  stopped  the  fray  and  took  him  inside  the 
Fort.  "Kentucky"  had  no  idea  of  being  driven  from  his 
home  in  such  an  unceremonious  manner.  Three  of  our 
room-mates  this  morning  removed  to  an  adjacent  battery 
room,  hitherto  unoccupied,  and  seven  taken  from  another 
crowded  room,  relieving  both  rooms  very  much  ;  the  ten 
propose  forming  a  mess  and  cooking  their  own  rations, 
and  have  sent  to  New  York  for  a  stove  for  the  purpose. 

Mayor  Brown  had  a  visit  to  day  from  his  wife,  son  and 
daughter,  by  permission  of  General  Scott,  and  remained 
with  them  several  hours,  but  in  the  presence  of  an  officer. 

Wrote  long  letter  to  wife,  she  does  not  get  half  the 
letters  I  write  her,  getting  very  tired  of  my  imprisonment 
as  the  excitement  and  novelty  pass  off,  and  begin  to  feel 
gloomy  at  the  prospect  of  remaining  here  during  the 
winter — new  order  posted  in  our  rooms  to-day,  "  Prisoners 
are  forbidden  to  speak  to,  or  recognize  any  visitors."  Some 
of  us  had  touched  our  hats  to  Mrs.  Brown  as  she  stood  on 
the  balcony  opposite  our  quarters,  and  such  a  breach  of 
discipline  cannot  be  permitted. 

OCTOBER  17.  Quite  unwell  this  morning,  head-ache  and 
severe  pain  in  the  back  ;  weather  cold  and  raw,  with 
North-east  wind.  Mail  came  in,  no  letters  for  me,  made 
half  a  dozen  cups  of  coffee  for  some  of  the  boarders  at  the 


49 

"United  States  Hotel,"  which  they  relished  very  much; 
the  stuff  the  Government  calls  coffee  is  warm  water  sweet- 
ened with  molasses  ;  the  presence  of  coffee  cannot  be  de- 
tected by  the  taste,  although  no  doubt  some  is  put  into  the 
liquid.  Two  of  our  number  released  to-day,  Mr.  Muir,  of 
Charleston,  on  condition  he  would  go  to  Europe,  and  re- 
main there  during  the  war,  and  Mr.  Chapin,  of  Mississippi, 
on  parole  not  to  return  to,  nor  correspond  with  the  South . 
Keceived  box  from  home  filled  with  good  things, — after 
dark  had  a  nice  set  out  for  the  whole  room,  the  G-overn- 
ment  boarders  enjoyed  it  very  much  ;  during  the  evening 
Dr.  Thomas  went  to  one  of  the  embrasure  windows  to  get 
a  little  fresh  air,  as  the  room  was  very  close,  sentinel  on 
the  outside  ordered  him  away,  and  informed  him  that  he 
would  "blow  out  his  brains  if  he  did  not  leave  the  window 
immediately  ;"  Doctor  left. 

OCTOBER  18.  Awoke  very  much  refreshed  from  a  good 
night's  sleep,  without  disturbance  ;  weather  raw  and  rainy ; 
occupied  the  morning  in  cleaning  up  my  end  of  the  room, 
including  the  gun  carriage,  which  answers  very  well  for 
shelving  ;  the  mail  came  in — received  a  very  pleasant  let- 
ter from  wife;  all  well  at  home. 

Another  arrival  in  the  morning,  Mr.  Isaac  Gr.  Mask,  of 
Baltimore  ;  Mr.  Harrison  left  our  room  this  morning  to  go 
into  number  three,  where  there  is  a  vacancy  ;  sorry  to  part 
with  him — he  was  my  next  neighbor,  and  almost  my  bed- 
fellow, for  there  was  but  six  inches  between  us  ;  general 
regret  expressed  at  parting  with  him,  he  was  so  kind 
and  attentive  to  the  sick,  and  generally  useful,  glad,  how- 
ever, that  he  will  be  more  comfortable,  as  the  room  he 
removes  to  has  a  fire  place  in  it.  Governor  Morehead 
also  left  us  for  the  same  room,  and  while  consoling  our- 
selves for  their  absence  with  the  thought  that  we  should 
have  more  room,  three  new  prisoners  were  brought  in,  and 
quartered  on  us,  Drs.  Page  and  Lindsey,  and  Lieutenant 
Dalton  of  the  Navy,  just  returned  from  sea,  sent  hither 
because  they  would  not  take  the  new  oath  of  allegiance  ; 
3 


50 

got  them  fixed  for  sleeping  by  contribution,  as  the  Gov- 
ernment has  run  out  of  bedsteads,  straw  and  blankets  ; 
fortunately  they  have  their  own  mattresses  and  blankets 
which  will  arrive  in  a  day  or  two. 

New  regulations  posted  to-day  in  all  the  rooms ;  we  are 
forbidden  to  write  long  letters,  and  must  write  to  our  cor- 
respondents that  their  letters  to  us  must  be  very  short, 
and  very  plainly  written ;  our  correspondence  is  read 
partly  by  Lieutenant  Wood,  and  partly  by  Colonel  Burke,  at 
Fort  Hamilton,  and  must  consume  a  great  deal  of  their  time, 
as  they  do  not  mail  our  letters  for  three  or  four  days  after 
they  are  written,  or  deliver  them  for  three  or  four  days 
after  their  arrival,  it  takes  eight  days  to  get  an  answer 
from  New  York,  and  ten  days  from  Baltimore ;  when  our 
letters  contain  any  objectionable  matter,  they  are  returned 
to  us  with  the  endorsement  of  Colonel  Burke,  stating  the 
cause  ;  the  Colonel's  early  education  has  evidently  been 
sadly  neglected,  as  his  chirography  is  almost  undecipher- 
able, and  he  spells  "female"  with  a  "phe." 

I  complained  one  day  to  the  Commandant,  of  the  delay 
in  mailing  our  letters  ;  he  excused  himself  on  the  ground 
that  he  had  so  many  other  duties  to  perform,  and  that  he 
had  to  take  extracts  from  the  letters,  such  as  would  give 
any  information  to  the  Government,  particularly  such  as 
related  to  the  financial  affairs  of  the  writers,  adding,  that 
"  he  got  a  great  deal  of  information  from  them."* 


*As  I  avoided  political  matters  as  much  as  possible  in  my  corres- 
pondence, it  was  rarely  interfered  with,  that  is,  it  was  not  returned  to  me, 
although  many  of  my  letters  failed  to  reach  my  family,  and  I  seldom 
wrote  to  others. 

One  specimen,  however,  of  the  paternal  care  exercised  by  the  authorities 
at  Washington  may  be  cited. 

My  wife,  in  writing  to  me  on  purely  domestic  matters,  proposed  sending 
one  of  our  daughters  to  school,  to  Streeter's,  a  teacher  of  some  note  in 
Baltimore,  and  asked  my  views  about  it ;  not  being  at  the  moment  very 
amiably  disposed  towards  Yankees  or  Abolitionists — I  replied — 

' '  Streeter  is  a  Yankee  Abolitionist  and  has  contributed  his  full  share 
in  producing  the  causes  which  have  disrupted  the  country  and  sent  me  to 
Fort  LaFayette,  and  I  do  not  desire  any  of  our  children  placed  under  his 


51 

Another  order  posted  to-day,  forbidding  the  use  of  any 
liquor  among  the  prisoners,  except  a  limited  quantity  on 
the  dinner  table  of  our  mess.  The  Commandant  expressed 
himself,  a  day  or  two  since,  that  we  had  entirely  too  many 
privileges  and  has  commenced  curtailing  them ;  great 
consternation  and  indignation  among  those  who  are  in  the 
habit  of  taking  an  appetiser  before  dinner,  and  a  settler 
after  dinner, — in  the  evening  read  the  English  papers 
until  nine. 

OCTOBER  19.  Slept  but  little  last  night ;  shortly  after 
getting  to  sleep  was  awakened  by  the  groans  of  Mr.  Carter, 
who  had  the  cramp  colic  very  badly — got  up  and  boiled 
some  water  with  my  spirit  lamp  for  him  to  drink  with 
mustard  ;  Dr.  McGill  succeeded  in  relieving  him  in  about 
an  hour  ;  the  doctor  made  him  drink  as  much  mustard  and 
hot  water  as  I  thought  would  have  killed  two  men ;  told 
the  doctor  so,  he  laughed  and  said  that  in  such  cases  a 
mustard  plaster  inside  was  more  effective  than  one  outside  ; 
had  to  get  special  permission  from  the  Sergeant  of  the 
Guard  to  light  the  candle  to  give  Carter  his  medicine,  who 
granted  it  for  only  five  minutes  ;  no  candles  given  out  last 
night ;  Government  run  out  of  candles  ;  fortunately,  sev- 
eral of  us  have  received  some  from  New  York. 

Dull,  foggy  morning  ;  every  thing  saturated  with  mist ; 
matches  all  spoiled  from  damp  ;  green  mould  appearing  in 
spots  on  the  gun  carriage  ;  horrible  place  this  for  well  peo- 
ple, to  say  nothing  of  the  sick ;  lost  another  prisoner  to- 
day, Mr.  Walker,  of  New  York. 

After  dinner,  a  new  order  posted  on  the  walls  ;  no  liquor 
allowed  on  our  mess  table  ;  total  prohibition  ;  in  the  after- 
noon, the  Doctor  wanted  some  of  his  own  whiskey  to  rub 
the  chest  of  one  of  the  sick,  and  it  was  refused,  even  for 
that  purpose  ;  played  cards  for  a  couple  of  hours  and  went 
to  bed  ;  room  horribly  close  and  damp. 

guidance,  send  her  to  some  other  school."  The  Commander  considered 
this  of  sufficient  importance  to  send  the  letter  to  Washington;  the  author- 
ities there,  after  carefully  erasing  that  portion,  mailed  the  letter  to 
my  wife. 


52 

OCTOBER  20.  Arose  "with  bad  headache  from  closeness 
of  the  room  ;  dissipated  by  a  cup  of  coffee,  together  with 
an  hour's  walk  in  the  cool  bracing  air  ;  the  storm  having 
passed. 

Church  service  at  eleven  o'clock  by  Lieutenant  Stevens  ; 
not  so  well  attended  as  on  last  Sunday,  only  about  fifty  of 
the  prisoners  present ;  weather  so  pleasant  after  several 
days  of  fog  and  mist,  that  many  preferred  walking  in  the 
yard  ;  was  informed  that  his  excellency  Governor  Morgan 
of  New  York,  having  our  spiritual  welfare  at  heart,  would 
send  us  a  preacher,  if  we  desired  it — declined  it,  as  we  did 
not  want  any  religious  adviser  of  his  choosing. 

No  letters  distributed  since  Friday,  although  they  arrive 
regularly  every  morning ;  fear  our  correspondence  is  to  be 
stopped.  This  morning,  James  M.  Haig,  of  Baltimore, 
whose  mind  has  been  giving  way  for  several  days,  was 
taken  to  the  guard  house,  and  placed  in  close  confinement ; 
no  one  permitted  to  see  him ;  he  thinks  his  room  mates 
intend  to  kill  him  ;  the  Commandant  thinks  he  is  sham- 
ming. 

Dreadful  long  faces  to-day,  "water,  water,  every  where, 
and  not  a  drop  to  drink!"  great  outcry  against  the  tyranny 
of  depriving  a  man  of  his  own  liquor,  sentinels  growing 
more  impudent,  symptoms  all  round  showing  increased 
stringency  in  the  discipline  ;  official  notice  given  to-day, 
that  in  future  the  allowance  of  candles  would  be  reduced 
to  one  candle  per  night  for  the  battery  rooms,  and  half  a 
candle  for  the  casemates;  fortunately  our  supply  from 
New  York  has  not  given  out,  and  I  wrote  to-day  for  more. 

It  was  stated  to-day  that  the  order  to  stop  all  liquor 
came  from  Colonel  Burke,  on  the  representation  of  Lieuten- 
ant Wood,  that  the  sentries  had  been  made  drunk  on  liquor 
given  them  by  the  prisoners,  which  was  false  ;  the  fact  is, 
the  sentries  by  some  means  got  access  to  the  room  where 
our  liquors  were  stored,  and  for  some  time  past  have  been 
liberally  stealing  them,  and  as  they  got  drunk,  it  was 
necessary  to  charge  it  on  somebody,  and  the  result  is  that 
our  grog  has  been  stopped,  and  Colonel  Burke  is  very 


53 

' i  indignant ;"  a  bottle  of  blackberry  brandy  of  mine,  which 
I  was  keeping  for  medicinal  purposes,  was  in  the  store- 
room on  Friday  night,  and  on  Saturday  morning  I  found 
the  empty  bottle  with  several  others  on  the  wood  pile 
outside  the  Fort. 

Two  of  the  sentries  Avho  got  drunk  and  refused  to  tell 
where  they  got  the  liquor,  have  been  undergoing  punish- 
ment for  three  days  past ;  as  flogging  has  been  humanely  (?) 
abolished  in  the  army,  other  punishments  have  to  be  resort- 
ed to,  one  is  compelled  to  walk  twelve  hours  a  day  with  his 
hands  ironed  behind  his  back,  and  sixty  pounds  of  bricks 
in  his  knapsack,  strapped  to  his  back,  (he  has  not  a 
particle  of  stoop  in  his  shoulders,)  the  other  has  his  hands 
ironed  behind,  with  a  bar  of  iron  fastened  to  the  cuffs  to 
keep  his  arms  in  one  position  ;  his  legs  chained  together 
and  mounted  on  the  top  of  an  empty  barrel  in  the  centre 
of  the  parade  ground ;  one  of  the  Irish  washwomen 
occasionally  holds  a  cup  of  water  to  their  lips,  and  from 
their  woe-begone  appearance  to-day,  one  would  suppose 
they  might  now  safely  be  trusted  with  untold  whiskey  ; 
towards  evening,  a  third  one  made  his  appearance  on  the 
parade  ground,  with  his  hands  behind  him  and  the  bricks 
on  his  back ;  he  was  detected  in  substituting  blocks  of 
wood  for  the  bricks  in  the  knapsack  of  number  one,  who 
was  his  particular  friend ;  a  fourth  one  had  offended,  but 
the  Commandant  contented  himself  by  kicking  the  culprit 
down  stairs,  using  his  foot  with  great  effect. 

Evening  prayers  read  by  Mr.  Stevens  at  five,  read 
Macauley  until  nine,  and  to  bed. 

OCTOBER  21.  Excellent  night's  sleep,  the  cool  weather 
has  much  improved  the  condition  of  our  room  ;  made  coffee 
for  half  a  dozen,  the  best  I  ever  made,  having  invented  a 
new  process  for  concocting  it ;  received  a  long  and  pleasant 
letter  from  my  eldest  daughter,  all  well  at  home,  they  had 
a  visit  from  Henry  May  who  gave  them  a  satisfactory 
account  of  our  mode  of  life  ;  received  box  from  New  York, 
with  feather  bed  and  some  bedding  I  wrote  for,  for  myself 


54 

and  friends.  New  arrival  to-day,  Mr.  Shaver,  from  To- 
ronto, Canada;  suppose  as  he  is  a  "  British  subject"  he 
will  be  released  as  soon  as  the  British  Consul  hears  of  his 
imprisonment ;  lucky  thing  now-a-days  to  have  been  born 
in  England,  or  any  where  outside  of  the  "  Land  of  the 
Free  and  the  Home  of  the  Brave!"  Strong  symptoms 
to-day  of  rebellion  against  the  new  liquor  law  ;  as  I  have 
a  small  private  stock  stowed  away  in  the  gun-carriage  it 
don't  affect  me,  but  as  it  is  generally  known  I  have  it,  it 
does  seriously  affect  my  stock,  which  is  rapidly  dimin- 
ishing. 

Haig  raving  mad  to-day  ;  Commandant  won't  let  any  of 
his  friends  see  him,  or  even  the  doctors  among  us  ;  during 
the  evening  his  shrieks  could  be  heard  all  over  the  Fort ; 
he  was  put  in  double  irons  and  gagged  ;  small  chance  for 
his  life,  as  the  Surgeon  of  the  Garrison  lives  on  the  main 
land,  and  only  occasionally  visits  the  Fort.  British  Con- 
sul, from  New  York,  came  in  the  afternoon  to  look  after 
British  subjects  ;  pity  we  had  not  an  American  Consul  to 
look  after  American  subjects.  Shaver  sent  a-  note  to  the 
Consul  by  one  of  the  sergeants,  informing  him  of  his 
arrest ;  sergeant  handed  the  note  to  the  Consul  instead  of 
giving  it  to  Lieutenant  Wood,  and  letting  it  reach  its 
destination  in  that  way,  for  which  blunder,  sergeant  was 
put  in  the  guard  house.  Consul  demanded  to  see  Mr. 
Shaver  ;  was  told  he  could  not  see  him  without  a  permit 
from  Mr.  Seward.* 

After  dark  played  cards  for  a  couple  of  hours. 


*  Shaver  accompanied  us  to  Fort  Warren,  and  early  in  November  re- 
ceived a  letter  from  Lord  Lyons,  stating  that  he  had  failed  to  obtain  from 
Mr.  Seward,  either  his  discharge  or  the  reasons  for  his  arrest,  and  had 
referred  the  case  to  the  Government  at  home.  Shaver  in  the  meantime 
was  offered  his  release  on  condition  of  his  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance  to 
the  United  States  ;  he  was  finally  released  about  the  first  of  January.  His 
case  was  brought  before  the  House  of  Lords  in  February,  and  elicited  a 
long  debate,  several  of  the  speakers  insisting  that  the  Government  should 
sustain  Mr.  Shaver's  claims  for  damages. 


55 

OCTOBER  22.  Slept  soundly  last  night  in  my  new  bed ; 
fellow-prisoners  say  I  am  getting  too  luxurious  and  must 
be  taken  down ;  morning  cold  and  bracing.  Writing 
alongside  a  thirty-two  pound  cannon,  on  the  gun  carriage, 
on  a  brick  floor,  without  fire,  and  the  door  wide  open  to 
give  light  to  write  by,  is  getting  rather  uncomfortable, 
still  I  stand  it  very  well.  Another  arrival  this  morning, 
Mr.  Pierce,  of  New  Orleans,  and  three  discharges  yester- 
day, Messrs.  Sullivan,  Corrie  and  P.,  the  latter  has  been 
here  only  a  week,  and  is  generally  believed  to  be  a  Govern- 
ment spy,  the  former  is  a  lawyer  in  New  York,  who  volun- 
teered his  services  as  counsel  to  defend  the  privateers,  and 
was  immediately  arrested  and  sent  here.  An  hour  after 
his  release  an  order  came  revoking  it,  but  he  had  gone  and 
they  let  him  alone. 

Some  ten  days  ago  a  petition  was  sent  to  the  President, 
signed  by  all  the  Doctors  in  the  Fort  and  the  Surgeon  of 
the  Garrison,  for  the  release  of  Mr.  Quinlan,  of  Baltimore 
county,  on  the  score  of  ill-health,  all  expressing  their 
belief  that  he  could  not  survive  a  protracted  confinement ; 
he  has  for  a  long  time  been  afflicted  with  a  chronic  dysen- 
tery ;  yesterday  he  was  sent  for  to  go  to  the  office,  and 
offered  his  release  if  he  would  take  the  new  oath  of  allegi- 
ance to  the  Government,  and  give  his  parole  of  honor,  not 
to  return  to  the  State  of  Maryland ;  the  former  he  was 
willing  to  do,  in  view  of  his  physical  condition,  but 
declined  the  latter,  as  he  had  no  place  but  his  home  to  go 
to ;  this  looks  like  an  intention  on  the  part  of  the  Govern- 
ment to  exile  us ;  in  fact  they  appear  to  be  embarrassed  to 
know  what  to  do  with  us. 

Played  cards  in  the  evening  with  Dr.  Thomas  and  Mr. 
Barr,  of  Kentucky,  until  nine. 

i 

OCTOBER  23.  Excellent  night's  sleep  ;  new  bed  and  clean 
linen  sheets  act  like  a  charm  ;  was  aroused  about  daylight 
by  the  shrieks  of  Haig,  who  is  now  raving  mad  ;  could 
discover  by  the  suppressed  stifle,  that  the  guards  were  again 
gagging  him  ;  no  one  permitted  to  see  him  ;  made  coffee 


56 

tor  myself  and  immediate  neighbors;  two  new  prisoners 
to-day — Flanders  brothers,  from  New  York  State,  editors 
of  newspapers,  who  preferred  peace  to  war,  and  hence  are 
here  ;*  and  one  release,  Mr.  McMasters,  of  New  York,  edi- 
tor of  the  "Freeman's  Journal,"  which  was  suppressed  by 
the  Government  some  time  since — its  title  not  correspond- 
ing with  the  times  ;  he  took  the  oath  annexed  to  a  written 
protest  against  its  legality,  and  the  outrage  to  his  person 
and  property  in  arresting  him  and  suppressing  his  paper  ; 
query?  how  much  does  Mr.  Seward  care  for  that?  Took 
cold  to-day — which  settled  in  my  head  and  eyes  ;  nearly 
blinding  me  ;  could  not  see  during  the  afternoon  to  read 
or  write  ;  and  went  to  bed  at  six  o'  clock  ;  laid  awake  until 
twelve  with  intense  pain  in  my  eyes — and  had  an  uneasy 
sleep  the  balance  of  the  night. 

OCTOBER  24.  Cold  much  better,  and  pain  in  the  eyes 
nearly  gone ;  weather  very  cold ;  read  the  papers  and 
wrote,  wrapped  up  in  blankets  ;  at  eleven  o'clock,  steam 
tug  came  with  our  stoves  and  carpets,  the  latter,  made  of 
coarse  plaited  rope  which  will  hold  all  the  dirt  that  can 
be  got  into  the  interstices ;  carpet  put  down  ;  two  strips 
the  length  of  the  room,  and  one  at  the  foot  of  each  row  of 
beds  ;  stoves  brought  in,  but  not  fixed  up. 

Two  prisoners  discharged  to-day  :  Mr.  Snable,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, and  Captain  Hagelin,  of  Baltimore, — the  former 
swearing  vengeance  against  Simon  Cameron,  who,  he  in- 
sists, had  him  arrested  for  private  reasons  ;  the  latter,  the 
master  of  a  bay  schooner  running  between  Baltimore  and 
the  Patuxent  river,  who  says  he  was  taken  out  of  his  ves- 

*  F.  D.  Flanders  was  the  editor  of  the  " Franklin  Gazette,"  Malone, 
New  York,  at  the  time  of  his  arrest — his  paper  was  interdicted  through 
the  mails — his  wife,  a  spunky  woman,  continued  to  publish  it:  writing 
the  editorials  herself,  and  having  it  distributed  through  the  adjacent  coun- 
ties by  special  carriers ;  notwithstanding  the  prohibition,  copies  of  the 
paper  would  occasionally  reach  the  Fort,  and  the  spicy  editorials  of  the 
lady  editor  afforded  us  much  amusement. 

His  brother,  James  E.  Flanders,  was  a  lawyer,  and  subsequently  elected 
to  the  bench  ;  Government  made  nothing  out  of  the  arrest  of  either. 


57 

sel  in  the  river  by  one  of  the  tug  boats :  does  not  know 
why  ;  and  has  never  heard  of  his  vessel  since  ;  and  don't 
know  why  he  is  released  ;  he  has  been  here  nearly  three 
months. 

Haig,  the  crazy  man,  worse  to-day  ;  tried  to  get  out  of 
the  guard  house — and  although  heavily  ironed,  it  took  five 
men  to  hold  him  ;  I  witnessed  it,  and  with  the  supernatural 
strength  madmen  have,  he  knocked  the  soldiers  about  as  if 
they  were  so  many  children  ;  finally  they  were  compelled 
to  use  the  butts  of  their  guns  before  they  could  get  him 
back. 

Two  more  of  the  soldiers  promenading  the  parade 
ground  to-day  with  their  knapsacks  full  of  bricks  and 
their  arms  ironed  behind  their  backs ;  their  offence  is 
smuggling  liquor  into  the  Fort ;  the  severest  punishment 
I  ever  saw  ;  No.  1,  spoken  of  last  week,  continues  his 
daily  walk  of  twelve  hours,  and  No.  2  still  acts  as  over- 
seer from  the  head  of  his  barrel :  No.  3,  who  substituted 
the  blocks  of  wood  for  the  bricks  in  the  knapsack  of  his 
friend,  was  relieved  after  a  couple  of  days  punishment ;  it 
would  be  much  better  to  tie  them  up  and  flog  them,  but 
the  regulations  of  the  army  forbid  it. 

Played  cards  for  a  couple  of  hours  after  dark,  and  just 
as  I  was  going  to  bed,  the  door  was  opened  and  a  new 
prisoner  thrust  in,  and  the  door  closed  and  locked  without 
any  remark  or  explanation  from  the  sergeant ;  the  most 
bewildered  man  I  ever  saw;  looking  at  him  a  moment  I 
recognized  him  as  one  of  my  youthful  acquaintances,  Dr. 
Jeffrey,  of  the  navy,  a  native  of  Virginia,  who  had  just 
returned  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  declining  to  take 
the  oath,  taken  out  of  his  ship  and  sent  hither;  they  would 
not  give  him  time  to  get  his  baggage,  so  he  came  among 
us  entirely  destitute,  had  to  stir  myself  to  get  a  bed  fixed 
for  him  on  some  benches,  before  the  drum  told  us  to  put 
out  the  lights. 

To  me,  it  appears  one  of  the  most  barbarous  and  dis- 
graceful features  of  this  war,  to  take  Southern  gentlemen, 
who  have  made  it  a  point  of  honor  to  bring  their  ships 


58 

into  Northern  ports,  and  resign  their  commissions,  when 
they  might  have  with  perfect  ease,  taken  them  into  South 
ern  ports ;  and  immediately  on  their  arrival  send  them  as 
prisoners  to  the  Forts.*  I  am  sometimes  disposed  to  agree 
with  one  of  the  English  reviews  I  received  last  week,  in 
the  assertion,  that  "whatever  may  be  the  result  of  the 
war,  one  result  is  certain,  that  of  thoroughly  brutalizing 
the  Northern  mind." 

OCTOBER  25.  Cold,  clear  morning,  slept  well  last  night, 
had  to  dress  in  the  dark  as  it  is  too  cold  to  open  the  doors  ; 
read  for  a  couple  of  hours  at  one  of  the  embrasures, 
wrapped  up  in  blankets,  and  walked  for  an  hour  to  get 
warm  ;  stoves  in  the  room,  but  stove  pipes  not  yet  arrived. 

Grand  distribution  of  furniture  to-day,  I  got  a  chair,  a 
pitcher  that  was  stolen  five  minutes  afterwards,  a  good 
writing  table  and  a  husk  mattress,  six  inches  too  short 
and  ten  inches  too  narrow  for  my  bedstead ;  increased  the 
size  of  it  with  boards,  and  with  my  own  bedding  on  top, 
and  a  pair  of  clean  linen  sheets  and  pillow  slips,  and  my 
new  blue  and  white  marseilles  quilt,  made  a  bed  that  was 
the  remark  and  envy  of  the  whole  party.  Dr.  Nathan  R. 
Smith,  of  Baltimore,  sent  us  a  large  box  of  his  splendid 
grapes,  which  was  received  to-day ;  it  was  a  present  to  the 
Baltimore  delegation ;  I  picked  out  a  bunch  for  myself  and 
put  it  carefully  away  under  the  gun  carriage,  intending 

*The  most  of  this  class  of  prisoners  were  exchanged  from  time  to  time 
during  the  winter  :  their  exchange  was  a  matter  of  special  negotiation  in 
each  case,  for  some  particular  prisoner  in  Richmond  whose  friends  in  the 
North  were  anxious  to  have  released. 

The  difficulty  arose  from  the  refusal  of  the  Southern  Government  to 
place  on  an  equality,  as  subjects  for  exchange,  officers  who  were  fairly 
taken  in  battle  against  officers  who  were  kidnapped  in  Northern  ports  on 
their  return  from  service  abroad.  Many  of  those  gentlemen  had  oppor- 
tunities to  leave  their  ships,  while  in  the  West  Indies  and  elsewhere,  and 
return  to  their  homes  in  the  South,  but  declined  deserting  their  trust  until 
they  handed  over  their  ships  to  the  Government,  and  then  resigned,  im- 
mediately to  be  arrested,  and  in  some  instances  confined  in  common  jails 
until  the  officers  were  ready  to  take  them  to  some  of  the  Forts. 


59 

to  eat  it  at  night,  and  distributed  the  balance  of  my  share 
among  my  room  mates ;  when  I  went  to  get  it  after  dark, 
found  somebody  had  stolen  it,  so  got  none  of  the  grapes ; 
inquired,  but  nobody  took  it. 

About  nine  o'clock,  another  prisoner  was  unceremoni- 
ously thrust  into  our  room,  who  looked  as  bewildered  as 
did  Dr.  Jeffrey,  recognized  him  also  as  one  of  my  early 
acquaintances,  Captain  Shields,  formerly  of  the  United 
States  Army,*  a  native  of  Virginia,  but  a  resident  of 
Vermont ;  he  too,  was  without  baggage  or  bedding,  put 
three  benches  together  and  made  a  bed  for  him  ;  he  was 
much  astonished  at  the  looks  of  things  in  general,  had 
been  informed  by  the  Marshal  that  he  would  be  provided 
with  ''furnished  quarters." 

OCTOBER.  26.  Slept  well,  was  not  disturbed  by  the  sick 
during  the  night;  rainy  morning,  but  not  so  cold  as  yester- 
day, remained  in  doors,  reading  and  writing.  Noticed  a 
new  face  on  the  barrel  in  the  parade  ground,  the  old  occu- 
pant had  been  taken  down,  and  set  to  walking,  the  offence 
of  the  new  one  is  said  to  be  insolence  to  the  commanding 
officer  ;  if  every  soldier  who  had  been  insolent  to  us  were 
punished  in  the  same  way,  the  parade  ground  would  be 
full  of  barrels  ;  some  of  the  gentlemen  think  it  a  cruel 
and  barbarous  mode  of  punishment ;  perhaps  it  is,  but  my 
compassion  for  the  miserable  wretches  is  considerably 
lessened  from  the  fact  that  those  who  are  undergoing  the 
punishment,  are  those  who  have  been  most  prominent  in 
their  insolence  to  us ;  even  S.  says,  that  if  the  Lord 

*  Captain  H.  L.  Shields  was  a  native  of  Norfolk,  Va.,  and  of  course  an 
object  of  suspicion,  although  he  had  been  for  many  years  a  resident  of 
Vermont,  the  more  so,  as  he  had  a  brother  in  the  Confederate  service. 
He  was  on  his  farm,  near  Bennington,  superintending  his  laborers,  when 
a  messenger  arrived,  stating  that  a  friend  of  his  was  at  the  Railroad 
station,  and  desired  to  see  him  before  the  train  started ;  on  repairing  to 
the  station  in  company  with  the  messenger,  instead  of  his  friend,  he  found 
two  United  States  Marshals,  who  immediately  seized  him,  put  him  on 
the  train  and  took  him  to  Fort  LaFayette,  without  permitting  him  to  see 
or  inform  his  family  of  his  arrest,  or  to  obtain  a  change  of  clothing. 


60 

will  forgive   him  for  what  he   has  done  in  behalf  of  the 
Irish  in  past  years,  he  will  promise  to  sin  no  more. 

Usual  routine  for  the  day  ;  reading,  writing  and  exercise 
until  the  drum  beat  for  us  to  go  to  our  rooms  ;  took  tea 
with  the  new  mess  at  the  other  end  of  our  room,  and 
helped  the  set  out  with  some  of  my  own  stores ;  their 
cooking  apparatus  will  not  improve  the  atmosphere  of  our 
room.  Played  euchre  with  Dr.  Lindsey,  Messrs.  Pierce 
and  Barr  until  tattoo. 

OCTOBER  27. — Sunday.  About  ten  o'clock  last  night, 
just  as  I  was  getting  to  sleep,  the  alarm  was  given  that 
one  of  the  prisoners  had  escaped,  but  was  in  a  few  minutes 
retaken, — it  turned  out  to  be  Mr.  Lowber,  of  New  Orleans, 
who  was  arrested  on  his  way  home  from  Europe  ; — he  had 
by  some  means  got  the  iron  bars  of  the  embrasure  window 
open,  and  crawled  through  in  nearly  a  nude  state,  having 
packed  his  clothes  in  a  tub,  and  put  a  life  preserver  round 
him,  expecting  to  be  able  to  swim  to  the  main  land ;  he  is 
a  tolerably  old  man,  very  deaf,  and  can't  see  without 
glasses,  and  is  evidently  crazy  to  think  of  such  a  thing 
with  the  tide  running  four  or  five  miles  an  hour,  and  the 
almost  certainty  of  being  chilled  to  death,  before  he  could 
reach  the  shore  ;  he  was  taken  to  the  guafd  house,  and 
put  in  double  irons,  where  he  will  doubtless  remain  until 
the  Commandant  thinks  him  sufficiently  punished ;  he 
begged  them  to  let  him  have  his  bed,  but  they  refused  ; 
all  they  would  give  him  was  a  brick  to  put  under  his  head. 

He  must  have  had  some  understanding  with  the  senti- 
nel whom  he  expected  to  be  on  guard  at  that  particular 
part  of  the  Fort  on  the  outside,  and  made  some  miscalcu- 
lation about  the  time ;  after  he  got  outside,  and  was  discov- 
ered, the  sentry  commenced  calling  lustily  for  the  Ser- 
geant of  the  Guard ;  those  near  the  window  who  could 
hear  what  was  going  on,  say  that  when  Lowber  found  he 
had  made  a  mistake  in  the  sentinel,  he  oiFered  him  his 
watch  and  forty-five  dollars  in  gold  that  he  had  with  him 
to  let  him  go  ;  the  sentinel  replied,  "  it  is  too  late,  I  have 


(51 

called  the  Sergeant!"  This  morning  the  baggage  and 
bedding  of  some  of  those  in  the  same  room  were  searched 
under  the  suspicion  that  they  were  preparing  for  a  similar 
attempt,  nothing  however  was  found ;  I  witnessed  the 
search,  which  was  done  in  a  very  offensive  manner.* 

Early  this  morning,  before  I  was  up,  Lieutenant  Wood 
entered  the  room  with  an  officer  in  an  undress  uniform ; 
supposing  it  to  be  another  prisoner  I  remonstrated  against 
his  bringing  any  more  prisoners  into  our  already  over- 
crowded room  ;  he  informed  me  it  was  Colonel  Burke,  his 
superior  officer. 

Burke  is  commander  of  the  Forts  Hamilton  and  LaFay- 
ette,  the  latter  being  a  dependency  of  the  former  ;  he 
resides  at  Fort  Hamilton,  and  this  is  the  first  time  he  has 
been  at  Fort  LaFayette  since  the  5th  of  August,  although 
it  is  only  half  a  mile  distant,  leaving  its  government  en- 
tirely to  Lieutenant  Wood,  who  styles  himself  "  Lieuten- 
ant Commandant,"  and  always  writes  it  in  full  with  a 
large  flourish  ! 

The  object  of  Colonel  Burke's  visit  to  our  room  was  not 
to  inspect  it,  but  to  loan  Captain  Shields,  who  was  an  old 
comrade  of  his,  and  served  with  him  in  Mexico,  a  clean 
shirt ;  this  done,  he  took  his  departure,  without  looking 
round  or  speaking  to  any  other  prisoner  ;  this  was  the  first 
and  the  last  we  ever  saw  of  our  commander-in-chief. 


*The  day  before  we  left  Fort  Lafayette,  Lowber's  irons  were  taken  off, 
and  he  was  returned  to  his  room  ;  on  the  voyage  to  Fort  Warren,  he 
planned  another  escape,  but  was  dissuaded  by  his  friends,  and  again  at 
Fort  Warren,  a  letter  of  his  to  Boston  was  intercepted,  where  he  wrote 
for  two  life  preservers  to  be  sent  in  a  barrel  of  apples,  but  the  officers 
took  no  notice  of  it. 

He  was  a  wealthy  machinist  from  New  Orleans,  a  man  of  great  energy, 
and  was  returning  home  from  Europe  when  he  was  arrested  ;  we  found 
him  of  great  service  in  our  mess,  his  specialities  were  omelettes  and  coffee, 
in  the  manufacture  of  which  he  excelled. 

He  was  finally  released  in  January,  on  condition  that  he  would  go  to 
Europe  ;  during  the  summer  he  attempted  to  reach  his  home  by  way  of 
Nassau,  but  was  captured  in  attempting  to  run  the  blockade,  and  is  now  a 
prisoner  in  Fort  Jackson,  below  New  Orleans. 


62 

Haig,  the  insane  man,  was  removed  yesterday ;  could  not 
find  out  whither  he  was  sent,  none  of  his  friends  were  per- 
mitted to  see  him  when  he  was  leaving  ;  the  garrison  were 
all  glad  to  get  rid  of  him,  as  he  gave  them  so  much 
trouble  and  required  constant  watching. 

Had  church  service  at  eleven  by  Mr.  Stevens  and  a  ser- 
mon read  from  Pusey ;  one  of  the  prisoners  sent  to  New 
York  for  a  small  instrument,  so  we  now  have  music  with 
the  service.  After  dinner  we  had  an  official  visit  from  the 
United  States  Marshal  of  New  York,  and  Simeon  Draper, 
one  of  the  city  officials,  doubtless  come  to  report  officially 
that  we  were  very  comfortable  under  the  kind  and  parental 
care  of  the  Government ;  some  complaints  had  reached  the 
public  ear  through  the  press,  notwithstanding  the  asser- 
tions of  the  Government  organs  that  we  were  provided  for 
as  well  as  at  any  New  York  hotel,  and  were  living  luxu- 
riously. 

Draper  was  well  known  to  many  of  the  prisoners,  and 
received  some  very  plain  talk  from  a  number  of  them, 
myself  included;  Gatchell  was  particularly  hard  on  him, 
very  deservedly  so  ;  he  had  partaken  of  Gatchell' s  hospi- 
tality for  twenty  years  past,  and  although  he  knew  of  his 
confinement  here,  had.  taken  no  notice  of  it :  on  the  whole 
Draper  did  not  feel  any  better  for  his  visit,  he  promised 
very  strongly  to  have  some  of  our  discomforts  alleviated,* 
"  nous  verrons." 

After  lock-up,  the  evening  service  was  read  by  Mr. 
Stevens;  I  had  a  nice  cup  of  chocolate  and  some  home 
cakes,  and  read  aloud  from  Poe,  and  the  Ingoldsby  Le- 
gends for  an  hour. 

*Sure  enough,  as  some  of  the  prisoners  had  predicted,  the  New  York 
papers  a  day  or  two  afterwards  contained  an  account  of  this  visit,  which 
described  us  as  living  in  great  comfort  and  abundance,  and  expressing 
much  gratitude  to  the  Government  for  its  generous  and  humane  treatment 
of  us,  even  to  giving  us  the  roof  of  the  Fort  as  a  promenade,  where  we 
could  enjoy  the  fresh  air  from  the  ocean,  &c.,  &c. 

If  Draper,  or  whoever  furnished  the  information,  had  looked  upwards 
for  a  moment,  he  could  have  discovered  said  roof  was  too  steep  for  a  cat 
to  promenade  with  safety. 


OCTOBER  28.  Cold3  clear  morning,  our  room  now  toler- 
ably comfortable  as  the  stoves  were  set  agoing  last  evening ; 
received  box  from  home  with  my  furs  and  some  shirts. 
Mail  came  in,  quite  a  lot  of  letters  for  me,  and  sat  down 
to  answer  some  of  them,  when  word  came  in  that  we  were 
to  be  removed  to  Fort  Warren,  Boston  harbor,  at  nine 
o'clock  to-morrow  morning  ;  surprised  at  this,  as  the  Fort 
has  been  prepared  within  the  last  few  days  as  a  winter 
residence  ;  wrote  home  informing  my  family  of  the  change, 
spent  the  afternoon  in  packing  up;  a  very  troublesome 
job,  particularly  as  we  were  locked  up  in  the  dark  the 
moment  the  order  came  for  our  removal,  and  had  to  work 
the  whole  afternoon  with  candles ; — finished  packing  at 
eight  and  went  to  bed. 

OCTOBER  29.  Slept  but  little  last,  night,  very  much 
worried  at  the  idea  of  going  to  Boston  harbor  ;  it  looks 
like  confinement  for  the  winter  ;  it  is  represented  as  a 
bleak  and  dreary  place,  several  miles  from  land  ;  got  up 
early  to  pack  up  my  bed  and  bedding  ;  after  it  was  done, 
and  all  the  baggage  removed  to  the  wharf  for  shipment, 
orders  came  countermanding  our  departure,  and  our  effects 
were  all  taken  back  to  our  rooms, — the  supposition  now  is, 
that  we  will  start  to-morrow,  the  entire  party  very  dull 
to-day  at  the  prospect  ahead  of  them ;  unpacked  my 
bedding  and  got  ready  for  another  night,  received  my 
account  from  the  "Commandant,  found  out  now  why  he 
issued  the  order  some  weeks  since,  that  all  washing 
should  be  done  inside  the  Fort,  and  through  his  wife  ;  we 
previously  paid  seventy-five  cents  a  dozen  ;  his  charge  is  a 
dollar  and  a  half;  nice  operation,  this,  for  an  officer  in  the 
United  States  army  !  Commander  and  laundry-conductor 
of  Fort  LaFayette.*  Too  dull  to-day  to  read  or  write — 
tried  cards  in  the  evening,  but  had  to  give  it  up,  and  went 
early  to  bed. 

*  One  of  the  sergeants  who  had  been  missing  for  two  or  three  days  past, 
turned  up  this  morning;  according  to  his  own  story,  he  had  been  in  the 
Guard  House,  for  complaining  that  Mrs.  Wood  charged  him  ten  cents  for 
washing  his  shirt,  when  six  cents  was  the  usual  price. 


64 

OCTOBER  30.  Received  orders  at  daylight  to  prepare 
again  to  leave,  and  were  again  locked  up  in  our  rooms  to 
get  ready  in  the  dark,  or  hy  the  light  of  a  few  candles  ; 
at  eleven  o'clock  a  small  steamboat  came  to  the  wharf  to 
transport  us  to  Fort  Columbus,  on  Governor's  Island, 
where  we  were  to  take  a  larger  steamer  ; — marched  to  the 
wharf  under  the  escort  of  part  of  our  Irish  company,  who 
were  to  accompany  us  to  Fort  Warren,  and  on  reaching 
the  boat,  into  the  cabin,  where  we  were  locked  up  ;  cabin 
on  deck  which  gave  us  a  good  view  of  the  shore  ;  the 
ladies  opposite  saluted  us  with  waving  of  handkerchiefs, 
particularly  Mrs.  Gelston,  who  has  been  so  kind  to  us, 
scarcely  a  day  passing  that  she  did  not  send  us  something 
in  the  way  of  provisions,  fruits  and  flowers  ;  two  young 
ladies  ran  along  the  shore  for  more  than  a  mile  waving 
their  handkerchiefs  at  us. 

Arrived  at  Fort  Columbus  at  twelve  o'clock,  and  found 
to  my  dismay  that  the  boat  which  was  to  take  us  to  Fort 
Warren  was  the  same  one  on  which  I  had  narrowly  escaped 
shipwreck  ten  years  ago  ;  and  was  still  more  dismayed  on 
learning,  that  in  addition  to  our  own  party,  she  was  to 
take  nearly  seven  hundred  prisoners  from  Fort  Columbus, 
chiefly  those  captured  at  Hatteras  Inlet,  making,  with  the 
guard  of  three  hundred  and  the  ship's  crew,  over  eleven 
hundred  persons  in  a  vessel  only  built  to  carry  four  hun- 
dred, and  in  addition  old  and  unseaworthy. 

At  one  o'clock  dinner  was  served — crackers  in  a  barrel 
and  pieces  of  fat  pork  on  the  head  of  a  barrel ;  my  allow- 
ance was  three  crackers  and  a  piece  of  pork  fat  three 
inches  square  and  one  inch  thick,  not  a  particle  of  lean  in 
it ;  it  tasted,  however,  very  sweet. 

At  two  o'clock  the  prisoners  were  marched  on  board,  the 
privates,  six  hundred  in  number  crowded  into  the  cabin 
under  deck;  the  officers  into  the  cabin  with  us  above 
deck ;  left  at  four  o'clock  for  our  destination  ;  hunt- 
ed up  the  clerk  of  the  boat  and  made  an  arrangement  to 
have  meals  cooked  for  us  and  served  in  the  cabin  at  fifty 
cents  per  meal ;  succeeded  after  much  labor  and  manage- 


65 

ment  in  getting  a  state  room  for  Mr.  Carter  and  myself; 
dirty  mattress  and  no  bed  clothing  ;  berths  six  inches  too 
short ;  paced  the  deck  until  eleven  and  went  to  bed ;  weather 
and  sea  very  calm  ;  captain  of  the  boat  said  if  the  weather 
changed  he  would  put  into  harbor,  as  he  was  unwilling 
to  trust  his  boat  with  such  a  load  at  sea  in  bad  weather. 

OCTOBER  31.  Managed  to  get  three  or  four  hours'  sleep, 
but  very  much  cramped  in  my  short  berth  ;  got  up  early 
to  give  some  one  else  a  chance  to  get  a  nap,  as  more  than 
half  of  those  in  the  cabins  had  to  sit  or  stand  up  all  night ; 
sea  remarkably  smooth  for  the  season  of  the  year,  and 
every  prospect  of  a  good  passage.  The  Hatteras  prisoners 
describe  their  night  as  awful ;  most  of  them  had  to  stand 
all  night,  not  having  sufficient  room  to  sit  or  lie  down,  and 
sixty  out  of  the  six  hundred  having  the  typhoid  fever — 
not  a  particle  of  ventilation  for  them,  except  through  the 
cabin  doors.  Before  going  to  bed  I  tried  to  see  them,  but 
the  sentry  would  not  let  me  pass  :  nor  did  I  much  regret 
the  refusal,  for  the  stench  arising  from  their  "Black  Hole," 
was  sickening.  Pleasant  weather  and  calm  sea  during  the 
day  ;  were  all  the  time  in  sight  of  land,  passing  through 
Martha's  Vineyard,  and  along  the  coast  of  Massachusetts  to 
Cape  Cod,  and  with  the  aid  of  a  good  glass,  could  see  the 
country  and  the  villages  all  along  the  coast;  never  saw  a 
more  miserable  and  God-forsaken  looking  country;  for 
hours  we  would  not  see  a  tree — no  wonder  the  Yankees 
yearn  for  the  South  ! 

After  dinner,  which  was  very  scant,  the  clerk,  or  the 
"Purser,"  as  he  called  himself,  informed  me  that  the 
steamer's  provisions  were  exhausted;  shortly  after  dusk, 
we  reached  Fort  Warren  ;  a  more  desolate  place  could  not 
be  imagined  anywhere  this  side  of  the  Arctic  regions. 

On  reaching  the  wharf,  Colonel  Dimick,  the  commander 
of  the  Fort,  came  on  board  and  informed  us  that  he  had 
not  been  notified  by  the  Grovernment  of  our  intended 
removal,  except  that  he  had  received  orders,  in  general 
terms,  to  prepare  quarters  for  one  hundred  political  prison- 
3* 


66 

era  from  Fort  LaFayette,  and  had  no  accommodations  for 
a  larger  number  ;  that  the  Fort  was  a  new  one,  just  occu- 
pied ;  he  only  having  come  to  it  the  day  previous  ;  that 
there  was  not  a  bed,  nor  an  article  of  furniture  of  any 
description  on  the  Island,  and  nothing  to  eat ;  but  that  he 
would  send  to  Boston  that  night,  and  provide  for  us  the 
best  he  could,  and  we  should  pass  the  night  on  board  the 
boat.  The  North  Carolina  officers  insisted  that  a  portion 
of  their  men  should  be  taken  on  shore,  as  they  did  not 
believe  the  men  could  survive  another  night  in  the  hold, 
without  serious  loss  of  life  ;  accordingly,  about  three  hun- 
dred were  marched  into  the  Fort ;  I  gave  the  leg  of  a 
chicken  and  a  piece  of  bread  I  had  saved  for  my  supper,  to 
the  Rev.  Mr.  North,  Chaplain  of  one  of  the  Virginia  regi- 
ments, who,  I  accidentally  found  out,  had  had  nothing  to 
eat  all  day :  and  went  to  bed,  amid  the  curses  of  the 
whole  party  at  the  Government,  for  placing  us  in  such  a 
position. 

NOVEMBER  1.  Arose  at  daylight,  and  went  out  on  deck 
to  view  the  Fort  and  its  surroundings  ;  morning  bright 
and  clear,  and  things  generally  looking  better  than  last 
night ;  no  breakfast,  and  at  eleven  o'clock  were  marched 
ashore  to  our  quarters.  I  was  placed  in  a  room  with  seven 
others,  Messrs.  Quinlan,  Jones,  Landing,  Clagett,  Kessler 
and  Salmon,  members  of  the  Maryland  Legislature,  and 
Appleton,  a  lad  of  about  eighteen,  who  was  captured  on 
his  way  to  Virginia, — a  room  sixteen  by  eighteen  feet, 
lighted  by  three  slits  in  the  wall,  three  feet  by  six  inches, 
with  a  small  dressing  room,  used  in  common  \)j  the  occu- 
pants of  the  room  in  front,  which  faced  the  interior  of  the 
Fort ;  not  a  particle  of  furniture  in  the  room.  Shortly 
afterwards  the  baggage  arrived  in  carts  from  the  boat,  and 
found  all  my  packages  but  one  trunk  and  one  box  had  been 
opened  and  rifled  of  more  or  less  of  their  contents  ;  every- 
thing gone  that  was  worth  stealing  except  my  cooking 
apparatus.  All  my  pickles,  preserves,  Bologna  sausage, 
crackers,  ten  pounds  sperm  candles,  spirits  of  wine,  soap, 


67 

tobacco,  towels,  tea,  coffee,  sugar,  lemons,  sardines,  choco- 
late, cold  tongues,  &c.,  &c.;  in  fact  I  was  entirely  cleaned 
out  of  stores  of  all  kinds.  Found  all  the  prisoners  had 
suffered  more  or  less  in  the  same  way,  the  soldiers  on  the 
boat  no  doubt  thought  the  property  of  the  rebels  fair 
game  ;  at  all  events,  whatever  they  thought,  they  stole 
every  thing  they  could  lay  their  hands  on.  As  the  boat, 
with  the  guard  on  board,  was  still  at  the  wharf,  I  hunted 
up  Captain  Updegraff,  who  had  command  of  the  soldiers, 
and  insisted  that  he  should  immediately  go  on  board,  and 
investigate  the  robbery,  telling  him  that  it  was  his  duty  as 
an  officer  of  the  army  a'nd  d  gentleman  that  he  should  not 
lose  a  moment's  time  in  looking  into  it;  he  appeared  indig- 
nant that  any  one,  for  an  instant,  could  suppose  his  soldiers 
guilty  of  thieving,  and  suggested  that  it  must  have  been 
done  by  the  North  Carolina  privates.  I  reminded  him  that 
the  North  Carolina  privates  were  all  confined  under  deck 
and  not  permitted  for  any  purpose  to  come  on  deck,  except 
under  guard  ;  while  the  baggage  was  on  the  forward  deck 
under  charge  of  his  own  men,  and  besides,  their  scanty 
baggage  had  been  rifled  to  as  great  an  extent  as  our's; 
their  bundles  broken  open,  and  a  large  number  of  their 
blankets  stolen ;  and  again  insisted  that  he  should  im- 
mediately go  on  board  the  boat  and  investigate  it ;  he  said 
he  would  do  so,  and  started  across  the  parade  ground, 
which  was  the  last  I  saw  or  heard  of  him. 

During  the  day  a  sharp  Yankee  came  down  from  Boston, 
and  proposed  to  draw  our  rations,  and  furnish  us  with  two 
meals  a  day  in  good  style,  for  one  dollar  per  day,  closed 
with  him,  as  fat  pork  and  hard  bread,  although  very  good 
in  their  place,  don't  suit  my  appetite  ;  about  thirty  of  the 
other  prisoners  did  the  same, — made  arrangements  to  get 
the  Boston  and  New  York  papers,  and  at  four  o'clock  had 
a  very  fair  cold  dinner,  which  had  an  unusually  good  taste, 
as  I  had  eaten  nothing  since  two  o'clock  the  day  previous; 
such  of  the  prisoners  as  did  not  join  us  in  this  arrange- 


68 

ment  had  nothing  to  eat  all  day,  and  many  of  them  went 
without  food  for  forty-eight  hours.* 

After  dinner  I  commenced  looking  round  to  see  if  I 
could  not  better  my  condition  ;  I  had  been  assigned  room 
mates  who  were  perhaps  clever  enough  in  their  own  way, 
but  not  congenial  to  my  tastes  ;  on  examining  the  small 
room  between  the  front  and  back  room,  which  was  intend- 
ed as  a  baggage-room,  and  was  already  filled  with  baggage, 
I  came  to  the  conclusion  that  it  would  make  an  excellent 
sleeping  room,  it  was  about  ten  by  twelve  feet,  dark,  but 
perfectly  ventilated  by  a  transom  over  each  door  and  an 
opening  in  the  ceiling,  two  feet  square,  to  the  ramparts 
above,  twelve  or  fifteen  feet  above  the  ceiling,  making  a 
continuous  draft  of  air  through  the  room  without  affecting 
the  lower  part  of  it ;  calling  Lieutenant  Stevens,  who  was 
quartered  in  the  front  room,  and  who  had  been  my  room 
mate  at  Fort  LaFayette,  I  pointed  out  to  him  its  advantages 
as  a  sleeping  room,  and  proposed  to  him  to  get  the  gentle- 
men from  both  rooms  to  remove  their  baggage,  and  give  it 
up  to  us  ;  he  concurred  with  me,  and  in  a  little  time  we 
had  the  room  to  ourselves,  and  our  beds  arranged. 

Only  eight  or  ten  of  the  whole  party  brought  their  beds 
with  them,  the  balance  had  to  sleep  on  the  floor.  Apple- 
ton  went  into  the  passage  to  sleep ;  of  the  remaining  six 
in  the  back  room,  four  slept  with  their  heads  on  a  mattress 
I  loaned  them,  and  the  other  two  in  my  rocking  chair,  with 
such  blankets  and  shawls  as  we  could  spare  them. 


*As  far  as  I  could  ascertain,  two  raw  hams  and  a  box  of  soda  crackers, 
was  all  the  food  that  seven  hundred  people  had  during  the  whole  of  that 
day  and  part  of  the  next,  while  many  of  them,  in  addition,  had  nothing 
to  eat  for  twenty-four  hours  before  arriving  at  the  Fort. 

I  was  congratulating  myself  before  the  baggage  was  sent  up,  that  I  had 
enough  provisions  to  serve  my  immediate  friends  and  myself  for  a  day  or 
two  ;  so  thorough,  however,  was  the  "Raid"  on  our  supplies  that  a  jug  of 
alcohol  and  another  of  Kerosene  oil,  both  came  up  empty ;  the  former,  if 
well  diluted,  might  answer  the  place  of  whiskey,  but  the  guard  must  have 
found  the  latter  very  hard  drinking — worse,  if  possible,  than  that  celebra- 
ted New  England  manufacture  of  rum,  better  known  as  Massachusetts 
lightning. 


69 

On  leaving  Fort  LaFayette,  the  Commandant  refused  to 
permit  any  of  the  articles  furnished  hy  the  Government 
to  be  taken  with  us,  and  even  went  so  far  as  to  confiscate 
all  the  liquors  we  had  in  the  store  room,  on  -the  plea  that 
he  did  not  know  whether  the  commanding  officer  at  Fort 
Warren  would  permit  us  to  have  them ;  Colonel  Dimick 
wrote  immediately  to  have  them  forwarded  here,  so  in  a 
few  days,  if  they  come,  we  shall  be  more  comfortable, 
went  to  bed  at  ten  o'clock  and  slept  soundly. 

NOVEMBER  2.  Rose  early  and  made  a  cup  of  tea  for  Mr. 
Quinlan,  who  continues  unwell,  and  went  out  to  take  a 
survey  of  the  premises ;  came  to  the  conclusion  that  after 
we  were  fixed,  we  would  be  more  comfortable  here  than  at 
Fort  LaFayette  ;  we  are  not  compelled  to  come  in  contact 
with  the  soldiers,  and  the  oflficers  appear  to  understand 
their  position,  and  willing  to  do  whatever  they  can  to 
make  us  comfortable,  or  at  least,  to  let  us  alone ;  and  we 
will  not  be  subject  to  the  petty  annoyances  we  had  daily 
to  encounter  under  Baggage-Master,  Laundry-manager, 
Lieutenant  Wood  and  his  gang  of  Irishmen ; — spent  the 
forenoon  in  visiting  round;  and  find,  that  in  my  little  room 
I  am  far  ahead,  in  comfort,  of  the  whole  party,  and  am 
entirely  satisfied  on  that  score  ;  got  a  very  fair  breakfast 
at  ten  o'clock,  and  spent  an  hour  or^wo  in  promenading 
and  visiting  the  neighboring  rooms  ;  received  from  Boston 
some  articles  I  had  written  for,  the  day  previous  ;  among 
them  a  mattress,  which  I  gave  to  my  room  mates  ;  this 
makes  two  mattresses  for  the  six,  and  by  laying  their  head 
and  shoulders  on  the  bed  with  their  feet  to  the  fire  they 
manage  to  get  through  the  night.  Am  delighted  with  the 
promptness  with  which  we  receive  what  we  order  from 
Boston,  articles  coming  next  day,  whereas  at  Fort  LaFay- 
ette we  never  received  anything  from  New  York  under 
eight  days,  although  the  distance  was  less. 

About  two  o'clock  a  north-east  rain  storm  set  in  which 
stopped  all  out-door  exercise,  and  confined  us  to  our  rooms. 
Dinner  at  four,  and  spent  the  evening  in  Commodore  Bar- 


70 

ron's  room  in  very  pleasant  conversation.  Storm  increas- 
ing, fearful  night  for  ships  on  the  coast ;  at  times  the  wind 
would  whistle  through  the  casemate  windows  equal  to  the 
shrill  whistle  of  a  locomotive  engine,  and  after  listening 
an  hour  to  the  howling  of  the  storm,  and  the  waves  break- 
ing over  the  rocks,  went  to  sleep. 

NOVEMBER  3. — Sunday,  Storm  continued  during  the 
night  without  abatement ;  on  getting  up  this  morning 
found  it  impossible  to  go  out,  and  very  difficult  to  get 
water  for  washing,  as  very  few  could  be  found  willing  to 
face  the  storm  for  the  sake  of  a  clean  face ;  finally  a  quar- 
ter induced  an  old  negro  from  North  Carolina,  one  of  the 
prisoners,  to  bring  water  and  clean  up  the  room. 

At  ten  o'clock  the  gale  ceased,  and  the  weather  became 
mild  and  pleasant  ;  several  of  the  North  Carolina  officers, 
who  had  the  liberty  of  the  Island  on  parole,  walked  up  on 
the  ramparts,  and  on  their  return  described  the  scene  as 
fearfully  grand  ;  the  surf  breaking  over  the  rocks  and  sea- 
walls and  throwing  the  spray  forty  or  fifty  feet  in  the  air  ; 
they  bring  word  that  a  ship  was  wrecked  last  night  near 
the  Fort  and  all  perished ;  they  saw  the  dead  body  of  a 
female  perfectly  nude  fished  out  of  the  surf,  and  the  cargo 
strewed  all  along  the  shore. 

Weather  continual  pleasant  during  the  day,  and  at  one 
o'clock  had  religious  service  in  one  of  the  unfinished 
casemates,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  North,  of  Jefferson  County,  Va., 
who  was  captured  at  Harper's  Ferry:  quite  a  large  con- 
gregation, Colonel  Dimick  and  several  of  his  officers  were 
present  and  responded  to  the  service ;  a  more  impressive 
scene  could  not  be  imagined,  all  standing,  on  the  dirt 
floor,  amid  the  massive  piers  and  arches  of  the  casemates 
around  us,  reminding  me  very  much  of  an  engraving  I 
have  some  where  seen,  of  the  Worship  of  the  Scotch 
Covenanters  in  the  crypt  of  some  old  ruined  castle  or 
abbey. 

Dinner  at  four,  roast  turkey  and  Yankee  pumpkin 
sauce;  made  a  good  dinner  of  the  former  with  the  addition 


71 

of  a  cup  of  coffee;  spent  the  evening  in  visiting  the  rooms 
of  the  North  Carolina  officers,  some  of  whom  I  had  known 
in  my  many  visits  to  that  State. 

NOVEMBER  4.  Was  very  unwell  during  the  night,  ate 
or  drank  something  that  disagreed  with  me ;  weather 
delightful  after  the  storm,  spent  the  morning  in  prome- 
nading the  space  in  front  of  our  rooms,  allotted  to  us  for 
exercise,  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  feet  long  and  thirty 
feet  wide ;  all  "  Prisoners  of  State"  are  confined  to  these 
limits,  while  the  prisoners  of  war,  the  Carolina  officers, 
are  on  their  parole  and  have  the  privilege  of  the  whole 
island,  and  of  visiting  until  ten  o'clock;  the  State  prisoners 
being  closed  up  at  sun-set. 

Why  prisoners  taken  with  arms  in  their  hands  in  open 
hostility  to  the  Government,  should  be  accorded  privileges, 
and  a  higher  grade  of  treatment  than  those  who  are 
arrested  and  confined  without  any  charge  whatever,  or 
ever  having  committed  any  hostile  act,  is  one  of  the 
mysteries  of  "State,"  or  rather  of  "Seward"  policy  I  am 
not  able  to  solve. 

Made  the  acquaintance  of  a  number  of  the  Carolina 
officers,  and  find  them,  as  a  body,  an  intelligent  set  of 
gentlemen,  contrasting  very  favorably  with  the  volunteer 
officers  in  the  Federal  service  ;  they  bear  their  imprison- 
ment with  great  fortitude  and  cheerfulness,  and  have  an 
abiding  faith  in  the  success  of  the  Southern  cause,  only 
regretting  their  inability  to  participate  in  it,  to  its  success- 
ful end. 

Spent  the  evening  very  pleasantly,  in  my  room,  with  a 
number  of  visitors  from  adjoining  rooms,  and  at  "Taps," 
that  is,  at  half-past  nine,  went  to  bed. 

NOVEMBER  5.  Slept  soundly  last  night,  and  did  not  get 
up  until  after  eight ;  morning  unusually  bright  and  mild 
for  this  climate  ;  had  regular  Yankee  breakfast :  codfish 
and  potatoes,  baked  beans  and  pumpkin  "sass,"  all  very 
good  except  the  coffee,  some  insisting  it  was  tea,  some 


72 

coffee,  while  others  thought  it  was  made  of  roasted  beans. 
Spent  the  morning  in  making  arrangements  to  get  up  a 
mess  of  our  own  for  forty  persons,  in  which  we  were  aided 
by  Colonel  Dimick,  who  exhibits  every  disposition  to 
make  us  as  comfortable  as  possible  ;  this  example  neces- 
sarily influences  the  behavior  of  the  subordinate  offi- 
cers and  soldiers;  I  have  found  the  old  adage  "like 
master,  like  man,"  fully  exemplified  in  my  experience  of 
military  life  ;  we  experience  none  of  the  rudeness  and  inso- 
lence we  had  daily  to  encounter  at  Fort  LaFayette.  Passed 
the  afternoon  in  reading  the  Boston  and  New  York  papers 
and  taking  exercise  on  the  walk  before  our  quarters,  and 
the  evening  in  playing  cards  with  some  of  the  North 
Carolina  officers. 

NOVEMBER  6.  Election  day  at  home,  my  term  of  office 
as  a  Member  of  the  Maryland  Legislature  expires  to- 
day ;  wonder  what  effect  that  will  have  on  my  con- 
finement, and  what  sort  of  an  election  there  will  be  in 
Maryland  to-day ;  as  Plug-Uglyism  has  been  restored  at 
the  point  of  the  bayonet :  suppose  that ' '  disloyal ' '  citizens 
will  not  be  permitted  to  vote,  and  "loyal"  ones  can  vote 
as  often  as  they  please  at  each  of  the  eighty  voting  places 
in  Baltimore ;  see  by  the  Baltimore  papers  that  General 
Dix  has  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding  treasonable  votes 
(that  is,  votes  for  peace  instead  of  war)  to  be  deposited  in 
the  ballot-box,  and  constituting  the  soldiers,  the  Federal 
police  and  the  Plug-Uglies,  the  judges  of  who  are  "loyal" 
and  who  "disloyal,"  with  full  power  to  arrest  and  imprison 
whom  they  please  ;  have  not  the  slightest  doubt  that  the 
"Union"  party  will  have  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand 
majority  in  the  city,  and  as  little  doubt  that  the  actual 
number  of  voters  will  not  exceed  three  thousand. 

Many  of  the  gentlemen  are  under  the  impression  that 
we  will  be  released  after  the  election,  as  our  arrest  was 
evidently  made  to  intimidate  the  people  of  the  State,  and 
influence  the  coming  elections  ;  I  do  not  think  so,  for  the 
rowdy  element,  which  so  long  disgraced  Baltimore,  and 


which  after  a  long  and  hard  struggle  was  put  down,  is 
again  in  the  ascendant,  and  are  the  advisers  of  the  Gov- 
ernment in  all  that  relates  to  the  City  of  Baltimore,  and 
they  will  not  permit  our  return  if  they  can  possibly  pre- 
vent it ;  the  bogus  elections  of  this  Fall  will  give  them 
entire  control  of  the  City  Government;  they  will  immedi- 
ately dismiss  all  the  city  officers,  arid  fill  their  places  with 
their  own  creatures,  and  will  not  permit  the  return  of  a 
single  individual,  whom  they  hate  or  fear,  or  whom  they 
think  could  in  any  way  interfere  with  their  schemes  of 
rascality  ;  this  will  be  found  particularly  applicable  to 
Mr.  Brown,  the  Mayor  of  the  city,  whose  release  would 
disarrange  all  their  plans  ;  they  will  keep  him  certainly 
until  his  term  of  office  expires,  and  probably  afterwards 
as  a  punishment  for  his  contumacy. 

Set  to  work  to-day  to  fix  up  my  sleeping  room  ;  manu- 
factured a  very  good  bedstead  out  of  some  pine  slats  and 
put  up  some  shelving.  My  room  mates  had  a  cotton  sack 
and  fourteen  pounds  of  straw  served  out  to  them  to-day, 
which  enabled  me  to  get  back  my  under  mattress  ;  received 
some  furniture  I  had  ordered  from  Boston — carpet,  mat  for 
the  side  of  the  bed,  chairs,  washstand,  bowl  and  pitcher, 
water  bucket  and  foot  bath,  writing  table  with  damask 
.  cloth  cover  ;  stowed  all  my  surplus  baggage  under  the  bed- 
stead and  tacked  a  valance  of  black  cambric  around  the 
frame,  and  when  all  was  finished  and  arranged  had  about 
the  nicest  little  prison  room  that  could  be  found  any  where  ; 
many  visitors  came  in  to  vieAv  and  admire  it. 

Boat  came  down  in  the  afternoon  with  the  tables  and 
crockery  for  our  new  mess  ;  spent  the  evening  in  examining 
the  bills  and  making  the  necessary  arrangements  to  com- 
mence to-morrow  morning ;  about  one  hundred  of  the 
North  Carolina  officers  and  such  of  the  political  prisoners 
as  would  not  encounter  the  expense  of  our  mess,  are 
engaged  in  getting  up  another  one  on  a  cheaper  scale, 
which  they  estimate  will  cost  them  fifteen  or  twenty  cents 
per  day  above  the  Government  rations  ;  had  visits  late  in 
the  evening  from  Major  Gillam,  of  North  Carolina,  an  old 
4 


74 

acquaintance,  and  several  of  the  North  Carolina  officers  ; 
entertained  them  with  a  pitcher  of  hot  Scotch  whiskey 
punch  until  eleven,  and  went  to  bed,  tired  from  the  labors 
of  the  day,  and  sleepy  from  the  punch. 

NOVEMBER  7.  Up  early  this  morning  to  prepare  the  room 
and  table  of  our  new  mess  for  breakfast,  being  one  of  a 
committee,  with  Marshal  Kane  and  Captain  Berry,  to  wait 
on  the  table  for  a  week  ;  capital  breakfast :  beefsteaks, 
mutton-chops,  sausage  and  good  coffee  ;  the  committee 
highly  complimented  on  the  first  result  of  their  labors. 
Several  of  our  fellow  prisoners  released  to-day :  Captain 
Shields,*  of  Vermont,  Mr.  Eakin,  of  Pennsylvania,  Mr. 

*  RELEASE  OF  CAPTAIN  SHIELDS  FROM  FORT  WARREN. — Our  fellow  towns- 
man, Captain  H.  L.  Shields,  late  a  political  prisoner  in  Forts  LaFayette 
and  Warren,  reached  home  last  evening.  He  was  met  at  the  cars  by  a 
large  number  of  personal  friends,  but  was  so  deeply  affected  that  it  was 
with  difficulty  that  he  commanded  his  feelings.  The  treatment  of  the 
prisoners  in  Fort  LaFayette  the  captain  describes  as  having  been  not  only 
bad,  but  positively  cruel.  He  was  confined  in  a  room  with  thirty-eight 
others.  The  air,  of  course,  under  ordinary  circumstances,  with  so  many 
persons  in  one  apartment,  would  be  very  bad  ;  but  when  we  add  to  this 
that  many  of  his  companions  were  sick,  we  can  imagine  the  sufferings  of 
those  who  were  thus  inhospitably  entertained  in  Uncle  Sam's  Bastile.  The 
food  was  also  bad ;  and  the  Captain  declares  that  from  the  time  of  his 
incarceration  until  he  was  released  he  did  not  taste  a  decent  meal  of  vic- 
tuals. Colonel  Dimick,  the  commandant  of  Fort  Warren,  does  every- 
thing in  his  power  to  promote  the  comfort,  health  and  happiness  of  the  un- 
fortunate men  placed  under  his"  charge.  He  is  a  gentleman  and  a  soldier, 
and  his  conduct  towards  the  prisoners  is  of  a  kind  and  Christian  character. 

Captain  Shields,  upon  the  transfer  of  the  prisoners  to  Boston,  became 
of  great  service  to  his  comrades  from  his  intimate  acquaintance  with 
Colonel  Dimick,  and  says  that  he  is  repaid  for  his  own  sufferings,  by  a 
knowledge  of  the  fact  that  he  was.able  to  ameliorate  the  condition  of  those 
who  were,  like  him,  under  arrest.  Upon  his  discharge,  Captain  Shields 
was  treated  virtually  with  the  freedom  of  Boston.  At  the  hotel  they 
would  take  no  compensation  for  his  accommodation,  and  everywhere  he 
was  the  recipient  of  the  greatest  respect.  On  the  previous  occasion  of 
Captain  Shields'  visit  to  Boston  he  was  there  in  command  of  Sherman's 
celebrated  battery,  and  being  encamped  on  the  Common,  was  honored 
with  the  freedom  of  the  town.  It  would  seem,  therefore,  that  the  two 
visits,  though  greatly  dissimilar  in  their  original  cause,  ended  very  much 
alike. 


75 

Elliot,  of  Maine,  and  Mr.  Gilchrist,  of  Philadelphia,  (the 
latter  re-arrested  on  reaching  Boston  on  civil  process  for 
treason,)  and  Dr.  Brown,  of  North  Carolina,  on  his  parole 
until  exchanged. 

Very  busy  all  day  in  getting  our  iness  into  shape,  and 
succeeded  in  getting  up  a  passable  dinner  at  five  o'clock, 
no  doubt  we  shall  fare  better  as  to  food,  but  I  doubt 
whether  much  will  be  saved  in  expense. 

A  day  or  two  after  our  arrival  here,  Colonel  Dimick  was 
kind  enough  to  write  to  Washington,  and  ask  for  the 
privilege  of  extending,  in  his  discretion,  the  same  liberty 
of  the  Island  that  was  enjoyed,  under  parole,  by  the  North 
Carolina  officers,  to  the  political  prisoners  ;  the  only  politi- 
cal prisoner  who  enjoyed  that  privilege  was  Marshal  Kane, 
of  Baltimore ,  he  had  acquired  it  while  at  Fort  Columbus, 
and  was  not  disturbed  in  it  here  ;  the  only  answer  to  the 
Colonel's  application  in  our  behalf,  was  an  order  revoking 
the  parole  of  Kane,  and  remanding  him  into  close  confine- 
ment ;  so  we  may  be  content  that  as  far  as  we  are  concerned 
the  "area  of  freedom"  is  not  to  be  extended. 

After  dusk  Lieutenant  Buell  brought  in  my  letters  from 
home  with  a  request  from  Colonel  Dimick  that  I  would 
write  to  my  daughter  and  suggest  that  in  future  she  should 
not  comment  on  the  action  of  the  Government,  as  it  might 
embarrass  me  in  my  correspondence  ;  found  on  reading  the 
letter  referred  to  that  the  young  lady  had  given  that  free 
use  of  her  pen  in  commenting  on  my  imprisonment,  that 
women  alone  know  how  to  do,  which  was  not  very  palata- 
ble to  the  censors,  still  they  were  polite  about  it ;  the  letter 
was  good  enough  to  hand  round,  and  had  an  extensive  cir- 
culation. 


Captain  Shields  is  most  emphatic  in  his  declarations  of  innocence.  He 
assures  us  that  there  is  not  a  scrap  of  paper  or  the  least  vestige  of  evidence 
to  implicate  him,  and  so  far  from  being  a  traitor,  he  has  always  expressed 
himself  in  favor  of  the  maintenance  of  the  Government.  Those  who 
know  the  Captain's  great  sense  of  honor  and  his  personal  integrity  will 
give  full  credence  to  every  word  he  may  say  respecting  his  innocence.— 
Troy  Times,  (Republican]  JNov.  8. 


76 

Passed  the  evening  in  rny  bed  room  reading  the  papers 
from  Baltimore,  New  York  and  Boston,  the  latter  contain- 
ing several  bogus  letters  from  Fort  Warren,  describing 
our  miserable  and  dejected  appearance,  our  dirt,  rags  and 
tatters,  our  deep  penitence  for  having  rebelled  against  the 
best  and  most  paternal  government  on  the  face  of  the  earth ; 
our  anxiety  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance  and  sin  no  more  ; 
some  of  the  gentlemen  were  not  at  all  flattered  at  the 
special  notices  of  them,  particularly  the  references  to  their 
personal  appearance. 

NOVEMBER  8.  Up  early  to  attend  to  the  mess  and  get 
breakfast  ready,  and  kept  all  the  morning  busy  in  catering 
for  the  next  two  or  three  days  ;  find  no  difficulty  in  getting 
any  kind  of  the  best  provisions  from  Boston,  and  at  a 
reesonable  price.  Dr.  Coale,  a  friend  of  Mayor  Brown, 
has  kindly  offered  to  attend  to  mess  business  in  Boston  ; 
every  prospect  of  good  fare  and  good  cooking  ;  employed 
two  North  Carolina  privates  to  cook,  and  eight  to  wait  on 
the  table,  got  up  an  excellent  dinner,  the  best  since  I  left 
home, — roast  beef,  roast  mutton,  Maryland  hams  and 
round  of  spiced  beef,  the  two  latter,  presents  from  Balti- 
more, with  good  soup  to  begin  with,  and  good  coffee  to 
end  with. 

Five  of  our  party  left  to-day,  all  naval  officers, — Lieu- 
tenant Stevens,*  my  bed  room  mate,  and  Lieutenants 
Butts, f  Dalton,  Loyall  and  Sharpe,  the  latter,  one  of  the 
Hatteras  prisoners ;  destination  and  destiny  unknown ; 
they  were  given  half  an  hour's  notice  to  pack  up,  and  no 
one  allowed  to  speak  to  them  after  they  left  their  rooms  ; 
what  nonsense  ! 


*  Lieutenant  Stevens  has  since  distinguished  himself  as  the  first  officer 
of  the  iron-clad  steamer  "Arkansas,"  in  her  successful  contest  with 
twenty-three  Federal  steamers,  most  of  them  iron-clad,  on  the  Mississippi 
river  near  Vicksburg,  and  subsequently  commanded  her  when  she  was 
destroyed. 

f  Lieutenant  Butts,  on  his  exchange,  became  one  of  the  Lieutenants 
onboard  the  "Merrimac,"  and  participated  in  her  battles  in  Hampton 
Roads. 


77 

Another  lot  of  Boston  officials  came  down  to-day  to 
"view  the  animals;"  the  batch  that  came  down  the  day 
after  our  arrival,  with  the  Mayor  at  their  head,  were  very 
particular  in  going  to  all  the  rooms,  and  taking  a  list  of 
all  who  were  not  provided  with  mattresses  and  blankets, 
stating  they  would  be  furnished  from  Boston,  forthwith, 
to  avoid  the  tedious  delay  of  getting  them  from  the 
Government,  through  the  ordinary  method  of  a  requisi- 
tion ;  and  the  City  would  look  to  the  Government  for 
compensation,  which  charitable  purpose  was  duly  heralded 
next  day  in  the  Boston  papers  as  an  evidence  of  great 
kindness  and  liberality  on  the  part  of  the  city  authorities 
of  Boston  ;  since  which  we  have  not  heard  a  word  of  mat- 
tresses or  blankets,  or  of  their  honors,  the  Mayor  and  City 
Councils  of  Boston,  and  to-night  I  was  compelled  to  take 
another  blanket  from  my  own  bed,  and  go  out  and  borrow 
two  shawls  for  my  room  mates,  who  were  totally  destitute 
of  any  thing  to  cover  them  at  night. 

A  few  days  after  reaching  here  it  become  necessary  to 
make  some  arrangements  to  have  our  washing  done  ;  we 
proposed  to  Colonel  Dimick  to  send  it  to  Boston  ;  the  Colo- 
nel objected,  and  preferred  it  should  be  done  on  the  Island  ; 
probably  he  feared  it  might  be  made  the  medium  of  illicit 
correspondence  ;  there  was  a  frame  building  outside  the 
Fort  that  could  be  used  for  the  purpose,  and  some  Irish 
women,  the  wives  of  some  of  the  soldiers  or  laborers,  could 
do  it ;  accordingly  we  sent  our  clothes  out  yesterday,  and 
last  night  the  intended  wash  house  took  fire  and  was 
entirely  burned  ;  a  portion  of  the  clothes  was  saved,  but 
not  much ;  truly  I  have  hard  luck  with  my  baggage 
between  fire  and  thieves. 

Commodore  Barron  has  taken  the  place  in  my  small 
room  made  vacant  by  the  departure  of  Lieutenant  Stevens. 
I  think  I  shall  find  him  an  agreeable  companion  ;  passed 
the  evening  in  my  room  reading  and  writing. 

NOVEMBER  9.  Cold,  raw  morning,  with  easterly  wind 
and  driving  rain  ;  awoke  with  severe  head-ache  from  drink- 


78 

ing  some  "  Boston  whiskey"  last  night;  price  three  dol- 
lars per  gallon,  value  twenty  cents,  being  nothing  but 
reduced  alcohol  with  some  coloring  matter  in  it ;  won't 
drink  any  more  until  I  get  some  from  home,  and  perhaps 
not  then,  as  I  understand  to-day  that  Colonel  Dimick  has 
stopped  the  use  of  whiskey  among  the  prisoners,  in  conse- 
quence of  some  of  them  getting  tight. 

Occupied  most  of  the  morning  with  mess  matters,  send- 
ing orders  to  Boston  for  provisions,  &c.  Three  new  arri- 
vals to-day,  Mr.  Greeji  and  Mr.  Lowe,  of  Savannah,  and 
Mr.  Bunker,  of  Mobile, — Southern  gentlemen,  arrested  on 
their  way  home  from  Europe  ;  one  of  them  quartered  in  my 
room  and  two  in  the  room  in  front  of  me  :  they  appear  to 
be  educated  and  intelligent  gentlemen ;  received  letter 
from  my  brother,  he  thinks  we  will  soon  be  released,  as 
the  elections  are  over ;  doubt  it  very  much,  if  the  offer  is 
made,  it  will  be  on  conditions  that  are  inadmissible.  Our 
mess  gives  great  satisfaction  and  works  very  well,  but  I 
shall  be  glad  when  my  week's  supervision  expires,  as  I 
find  it  consumes  most  of  my  time. 

Spent  the  evening  in  my  room  reading  and  writing  by 
the  light  of  a  kerosene  lamp  I  sent  to  Boston  for,  yesterday ; 
I  find  it  a  better  light  to  read  by  than  gas  light,  it  is 
softer,  steadier,  and  equally  brilliant,  while  it  costs  less, 
but  requires  great  care  in  the  trimming  and  management. 

NOVEMBER  10.  Usual  routine;  church  service  at  eleven 
o'clock,  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  North ;  quite  a  large  audience, 
two  or  three  hundred  of  the  North  Carolina  prisoners  pre- 
sent. Colonel  Dimick  takes  great  interest  in  our  religious 
services ;  I  have  formed  a  very  high  opinion  of  him  as  a 
gentleman  and  Christian ;  all  the  prisoners,  without  excep- 
tion, speak  well  of  him. 

Had  an  extra  dinner  at  the  mess  to  day,  being  Sunday, 
roast  turkies,  roast  and  boiled  mutton,  roast  beef  and  lob- 
ster salad,  and  dessert  of  nuts  of  several  kinds,  fresh 
peaches  in  cans,  honey  and  coffee,  making  capital  prison 
fare.  I  find  the  rule  holds  good  inside  as  well  as  outside 


79 

of  Forts,  that  money  will  enable  you  to  live  anywhere, 
especially  where  there  is  a  Yankee  near  and  he  wants  it, — as 
he  always  does. 

After  dinner,  visited  the  officer  who  has  charge  of  us 
and  our  money,  and  drew  twenty  dollars  from  him,  that 
being  the  maximum  amount  each  party  is  trusted  with, 
provided  he  has  that  much. 

I  find,  in  my  visits  to  the  other  rooms,  that  much  dis- 
satisfaction prevails  about  the  distribution  of  the  quarters  ; 
we  occupy  what  are  termed  "officers'  quarters,"  and  con- 
sists of  sixteen  rooms,  eight  above  and  eight  below  ground, 
half  of  them  facing  the  parade  ground  in  the  interior  of 
the  Fort;  the  other  half  facing  the  embankment  on  the 
outside,  which  is  twenty-five  or  thirty  feet  high,  with  a 
space  between  the  walls  of  the  Fort  and  the  embankment 
of  about  twenty  feet ;  the  front  rooms  above  ground  are 
well  lighted  with  large  windows,  and  present  a  very  cheer- 
ful appearance,  the  back  rooms  are  dark,  being  lighted 
with  narrow  slits  in  the  wall,  six  inches  wide,  and  the 
light  and  view  shut  off  by  the  embankment ;  the  lower 
rooms  of  course  are  still  darker,  being  ten  feet  below  the 
level  of  the  parade  ground,  and  receiving  their  light  from 
a  narrow  area — all  the  rooms  are  however  dry — the  lower 
ones  have  stone  floors,  the  upper  ones  plank  floors,  and  all 
have  closets  of  various  sizes  between  them. 

The  night  before  we  landed,  Lieutenant  Buell,  who  has 
charge  of  the  political  prisoners,  and  Lieutenant  Casey, 
who  has  charge  of  the  prisoners  of  war,  undertook,  with 
the  aid  of  two  or  three  gentlemen  among  us,  to  apportion 
the  rooms  ;  it  was  ascertained,  after  setting  aside  forty-five 
of  the  political  prisoners,  who  had  no  money,  and  for  other 
reasons,  were  not  entitled  to  officers'  quarters,  that  from 
eight  to  nine  would  have  to  be  placed  in  each  room — those 
gentlemen  undertook  to  select  the  occupants  of  each  room  ; 
putting  together  such  as  they  supposed  would  harmonize 
in  their  habits  and  associations,  and  be  agreeable  to  each 
other  ;  the  intention  was  a  good  one,  but  failed  in  the 
execution  ;  during  the  night,  the  prisoners  on  board  under- 


80 

standing  that  about  eight  would  be  allotted  to  each  room, 
were  engaged  in  making  up  their  own  parties  of  such  as 
were  congenial  to  each  other,  not  knowing  of  the  arrange- 
ments being  made  for  them  ;  next  morning  on  entering  the 
Fort  we  were  all  drawn  up  in  a  line,  and  our  names  called  ; 
as  each  eight  or  nine,  as  the  case  might  be,  answered  to 
their  names,  they  were  given  the  number  of  their  room 
and  directed  to  it,  and  great  was  the  amount  of  indignation 
expended  when  it  was  seen  ttiat  some  gentlemen  occupied 
the  front  parlors,  while  others,  their  equals  in  social  posi- 
tion, were  consigned  to  the  back  cellars  :  I  was  assigned  to 
an  upper  back  room  with  a  set  of  associates  probably  clever 
enough  in  their  own  way,  but  certainly  the  last  I  should 
have  selected  had  I  been  left  to  my  own  choice  ;  indeed,  the 
evening  previous,  Wallis  and  myself  were  pitying  the  man 
who  should  be  quartered  with  them  ;  neither  of  us  dream- 
ing that  it  would  be  my  lot ;  it  turned  out,  however,  very 
fortunate  for  ine,  as  it  enabled  me  to  get  the  small  room  I 
have  spoken  of  as  a  bed-room,  and  eventually  gave  me  the 
best  accommodations  in  the  Fort. 

The  forty-five  referred  to  as  being  without  money,  and 
for  that,  and  other  reasons,  not  being  entitled  to  considera- 
tion, were  placed  together  in  one  of  the  casemates  some 
distance  from  us — a  room  seventeen  by  fifty  feet  within  the 
walls,  ceiling  and  floors  of  naked  stone  ;  none  of  them  had 
either  beds  or  bedding,  a  few  had  blankets,  some  pine  slats 
were  given  them  to  lie  on  temporarily,  and  at  the  end  of  a 
week,  bunks  were  put  up,  and  each  man  furnished  with  a 
cotton  sack,  twelve  pounds  of  straw  and  a  blanket ;  sol- 
dier's rations  were  served  them,  and  a  good  cooking  stove 
given  to  them ;  these  men  fared  much  worse  than  at  Fort 
LaFayette,  where  the  same  distinctions  were  notand-could 
not  be  made,  and  were  very  bitter  in  their  denunciations  of 
their  treatment;  for  the  first  two  or  three  days  the  officers 
and  soldiers  of  the  Garrison  were  disposed  to  treat  them  as 
pariahs,  and  a  guard  was  placed  at  their  door  to  keep  them 
as  close  prisoners;  but  this  was  removed,  and  they  were 
allowed  the  same  privilege  of  exercise  that  we  were — on 


81 

the  whole,  they  were  a  pretty  hard  party,  and  would  occa- 
sionally relieve  the  monotony  of  their  confinement  by  a 
fight  among  themselves;  the  Lieutenant  in  charge  was  not 
disposed  to  be  amiable  towards  them,  having  had  his 
pocket  picked  of  forty-five  dollars,  which  he  insisted  must 
have  been  done  by  some  one  of  the  forty-five  inmates  of 
casemate  number  forty-five. 

Spent  the  evening  in  my  room  reading  and  writing, 
received  the  Baltimore  papers  only  one  day  old,  showing 
no  detention  in  the  delivery. 

NOVEMBER  11.  One  of  the  cold,  penetrating,  driving, 
rainy  days  peculiar  to  the  sea-coast  in  this  latitude,  enough 
to  give  one  the  horrors ;  out-door  exercise  impossible ;  spent 
the  day  in  reading,  writing  and  attending  to  my  mess 
duties;  my  week's  service  as  carver  and  waiter  on  the  table 
has  expired,  but  I  have  agreed  to  continue  the  ordering 
of  provisions  and  keeping  the  mess  accounts,  Colonel 
Pegram,  Captain  De  Lagnel  and  Charles  H.  Pitts  being 
appointed  the  committee  to  superintend  and  wait  on  the 
table  the  ensuing  week. 

Received  a  basket  from  home  to-day,  filled  with  good 
things,  among  them  a  dozen  bottles  of  mint  julep,  laven- 
der brandy  and  old  whiskey,  which  were  stopped  by  the 
Corporal  who  examined  the  basket,  and  taken  to  the  Colo- 
nel's quarters.  Made  a  visit  to  the  Colonel,  who  kindly 
consented  to  my  retaining  them,  expressing  great  confi- 
dence that  1  would  use  them  judiciously,  and  suggested 
that  I  should  not  make  the  fact  generally  known  that  I 
had  them;  he  might  as  well  have  suggested  to  the  hounds 
that  they  should  no  longer  scent  the  fox.  Liquor  was 
scarce,  and  my  friends  were  all  seized  with  a  sudden  solici- 
tude about  my  health  which  could  only  be  relieved  by  per- 
sonal enquiry ;  made  a  pitcher  of  hot  whiskey  punch,  and 
spent  the  evening  in  my  room  entertaining  such  visitors  as 
dropped  in. 

Two  of  our  party  left  to-day,  Mr.  Bunker,  of  Mobile,  and 
Mr.  Pierce,  of  New  Orleans — both  took  the  oath  of  alle- 
giance. 


82 

NOVEMBER  12. — Usual  routine  for  the  morning,  exercise 
and  attending  to  the  mess  duties;  a  number  of  articles 
received  to-day  from  the  charitable  ladies  of  Boston,  viz: 
some  second  hand  Testaments  and  Sunday  school  hymn 
books,  several  jars  of  jelly,  quite  a  number  of  calico  comforts, 
made  of  old  frocks  and  window  curtains;  a  small  parcel 
was  handed  to  me  by  the  corporal,  endorsed  with  great 
pomposity  "from  Mrs.  Alexander  V.  Eice,  of  Boston,  for 
the  sick  rebels  in  Fort  Warren,"  opened  it  and  found  it 
contained  six  bottles  of  "Ayers'  Cherry  Pectoral,"  not 
having  any  use  for  it,  handed  it  back  to  the  corporal  for 
him  to  find  some  other  customer ;  six  of  my  back  room 
mates,  although  men  of  property,  were  mean  enough  to 
accept  the  calico  comforts  referred  to ;  although  abundantly 
able  to  make  themselves  comfortable,  they  have  preferred 
to  depend  upon  the  charity  of  their  fellow-prisoners  and 
the  Boston  people  for  every  thing  they  require,  too  indo- 
lent to  keep  their  room  clean,  which  has  only  Ijeen  done 
when  I  paid  one  of  the  servants  from  some  other  room  to 
clean  it  for  them  ;  with  one  exception  they  should  have  been 
placed  in  number  forty-five,  where  they  properly  belong. 

NOVEMBER  13.  Beautiful  day,  reminds  me  of  the  weather 
at  home  during  this  month,  spent  most  of  the  morning 
exercising  in  the  open  air,  received  letters  from  home,  all 
well,  and  expecting  my  release  very  soon  now  that  the 
election  is  over ;  have  not  much  hope  of  it  myself,  had  my 
name  transferred  from  the  roll  of  the  back  room  to  the 
front  room,  a  very  desirable  change  as  it  gives  me  a  right 
to  use  the  front  room,  which  I  only  enjoyed  before  by 
courtesy,  and  relieves  me  entirely  from  my  former  asso- 
ciates without  offending  them ;  my  room  mates  now 
consist  of  Commodore  Barron,*  who  sleeps  in  the  small 
room  with  me;  Colonel  Pegram,f  who  was  captured  at  the 

*Commodore  Barron  was  exchanged  in  July,  1862,  and  is  now  stationed 
at  Charlotte,  North  Carolina,  or  was  a  short  time  since. 

f  Colonel  Pegram  was  exchanged  early  in  January,  and  was  on  the  staff  of 
General  Beauregard  at  the  battle  of  Shiloh,  now  a  Brigadier  General 
under  General  Bragg. 


83 

battle  of  Rich  Mountain,  in  Virginia,  last  summer ;  Colonel 
Bradford,*  an  old  army  officer,  who  was  captured  at 
Hatteras  Inlet,  and  who,  singularly  enough,  was  one  of  the 
officers  who  superintended  the  construction  of  this  Fort, 
Captain  De  Lagnel,f  who  was  taken  in  Virginia  after  the 
battle  of  Rich  Mountain;  Charles  Green, J  a  merchant  of 
Savannah,  arrested  at  Detroit  on  his  way  home  from 
Europe ;  Andrew  Lowe,  §  a  merchant  of  Savannah,  arrested 
at  Cincinnati  on  his  way  home  from  Europe,  Marshal 
Kane,  of  Baltimore,  and  Appleton,||  the  young  man  who 
was  taken  while  endeavoring  to  make  his  way  from  Balti- 
more to  Virginia;  the  latter  two  sleep  in  the  passage, 
where  Marshal  Kane  has  fitted  up  a  very  nice  room,  by 
running  a  petition  across  the  lower  end,  his  health  not 
permitting  him  to  sleep  in  a  room  with  a  fire ;  one  servant, 
one  of  the  North  Carolina  privates,  is  allotted  to  us,  who 
makes  the  fire,  and  the  beds,  (except  mine,  for  I  don't  let 
anybody  touch  mine  but  myself,)  cleans  up  the  room, 
"blacks  the  boots,  brings  water  and  makes  himself  gener- 
ally useful,  particularly  when  he  is  looked  after  and  kept 
up  to  his  work.  Mr.  Green,  who  prides  himself  on  his 
skill  in  making  tea,  has  undertaken  that  depart- 
ment, and  at  eight  o'clock  we  have  a  nice  little  set  out  of 
whatever  we  may  happen  to  have  in  the  closet;  at  "re- 

*  Colonel  Bradford  was  exchanged  in  December,  and  returned  to  his 
home  in  North  Carolina;  he  was  in  bad  health — now  in  command  at 
Goldsboro',  North  Carolina. 

f  Captain  De  Lagnel  after  his  exchange  in  December,  was  promoted  to 
a  Lieutenant  Colonelcy,  and  commanded  the  batteries  at  Craney  Island, 
near  Norfolk ;  now  in  command  at  Fayetteville,  North  Carolina. 

|  Mr.  Green  was  released  in  February  on  parole  to  go  to  his  family, 
then  in  Virginia,  but  not  to  return  to  Savannah.  Five  hundred  dollars  to 
R.  J.  effected  what  Lord  Lyons  failed  in ;  Green  was  a  British  siibject. 

§Mr.  Lowe  was  paroled  for  exchange  in  February,  but  spent  three 
months  in  Baltimore,  endeavoring  to  get  a  pass  to  go  South ;  he,  finally  by 
a  liberal  expenditure  of  money,  succeeded  in  getting  it,  and  returned 
home. 

||  Appleton  was  released  on  an  indefinite  parole  in  March,  and  returned 
home  to  study  law. 


84 

treat "  that  is  at  half-past  four,  when  we  leave  the  parade 
ground  and  retire  to  our  rooms,  and  the  sentinels  are  drawn 
in  to  our  door,  I  trim  and  light  my  lamp,  and  prepare  my 
writing  table  for  those  who  wish  to  write,  or  read  in  quiet, 
leaving  the  front  room  for  conversation,  and  the  back- 
gammon players,  the  only  game  we  have,  as  there  are  not 
card  players  enough  among  us  to  make  up  a  game ;  at  ten 
o'clock,  I  brew  a  pitcher  of  hot  whiskey  punch,  which  we 
sip  until  eleven ;  Colonel  Pegram,  the  only  one  among  us 
who  does  not  partake  of  the  punch,  gives  us  some  very 
fine  music  from  his  guitar,  and  we  put  out  the  light  and 
go  to  bed  ;  conversation  not  being  forbidden  in  bed,  as  at 
Fort  LaFayette,  those  who  are  not  sleepy  can  indulge  until 
they  unconsciously  drop  off. 

NOVEMBER  14.  One  of  the  loveliest  days  that  could  be 
imagined,  positive  luxury  to  be  in  the  open  air;  read  and 
wrote  alternately  all  day,  most  of  our  party,  from  the 
tenor  of  their  letters  received  to-day,  are  very  sanguine  of 
an  early  release,  "  nous  verrons;" — went  with  Mr.  Harrison , 
who  had  heard  some  of  them  were  sick,  to  visit  the 
prisoners  in  number  forty-five,  and  to  distribute  some 
clothing  among  them  sent  by  the  ladies  of  Baltimore  : — 
God  bless  them  for  their  continued  kind  remembrance  of 
the  poor  prisoners  ; — good  substantial  clothing,  not  miser- 
able patches  of  cast  off  garments.  The  atmosphere  of 
number  forty-five  was  almost  unendurable,  that  peculiar 
sickening  smell  known  as  a  "  Poor  House  smell,"  familiar 
to  all  who  have  gone  through  Alms  Houses  ;  got  out  of  it 
as  soon  as  possible,  and  for  the  first  time  visited  the  case- 
mates occupied  by  the  North  Carolina  privates,  (which, 
however,  was  against  the  rules,  as  visits  to  them  are  not 
permitted,)  found  their  condition  mucll  worse  than  the 
inmates  of  number  forty-five ;  the  casemates  are  the  same 
size,  that  is  seventeen  by  fifty  feet,  but  the  number  in 
each,  varied  from  sixty-five  to  eighty-five,  and  the  stench 
was  perfectly  sickening ;  no  wonder  that  thirty  or  forty 
are  continually  in  the  hospital  with  the  typhus  fever  ; — 


85 

the  mumps  has  run  through  the  whole  of  them  ;  each 
room  is  furnished  with  a  large  iron  kettle  with  a  furnace 
under  it  outside  the  door,  in  which  kettle  they  boil  their 
meat  and  soup,  and  make  their  coffee,  all  exposed  to  the 
weather.  I  have  often  noticed  them,  thinly  clad,  cooking 
their  rations  in  a  driving  rain  or  snow  storm. 

From  thence  I  went  to  the  hospital,  the  sentinel  kindly 
looking  another  way  when  I  passed  him  ;  here  I  was  most 
agreeably  disappointed,  a  more  comfortable  and  better 
arranged  hospital  I  have  never  seen,  clean  and  free  from 
any  unpleasant  smell ;  the  contrast  was  so  great  between 
it  and  the  rooms  I  had  just  left,  that  I  began  to  think  it 
must  be  a  luxury  for  the  poor  fellows  to  get  sick,  and 
rejoiced  that  I  had  at  last  found  something  creditable  to 
the  United  States  Government  in  my  journeyings  round 
among  their  Forts,  but  the  delusion  was  dispelled  on  my 
return  to  my  room,  by  being  informed  that  it  was  fitted 
up  entirely  by  private  contributions  from  Boston,  under 
the  direction  of  Dr.  Peters,  a  surgeon  in  the  Federal  army, 
who  was  taken  prisoner  in  Texas,  and  released  on  his 
parole  of  hefnor  until  exchanged,  and  who  has  devoted 
himself  to  the  sick  prisoners,  carrying  the  point  of  honor 
so  far  that  he  will  not  attend  to  the  sick  of  the  garrison, 
considering  that  would  be  a  breach  of  his  parole ;  that  man 
ought  to  be  unconditionally  released. 

NOVEMBER  15.  A  placard  was  posted  in  our  rooms 
to-day,  that  on  to-morrow  an  agent  of  the  State  Depart- 
ment would  visit  the  Fort,  for  the  purpose  of  .ascertaining 
and  reporting  to  Washington  the  names  of  such  prisoners 
as  were  willing  to  take  the  oath  of  allegiance,  as  a  con- 
dition preliminary  to  any  investigation  of  their  cases. 
Numbers,  no  doubt,  will  take  that  or  any  other  oath  the 
Government  may  require,  to  be  released  from  imprison- 
ment ;  like  the  news  man  in  Fort  LaFayette,  who  was  not 
at  all  particular  what  the  oath  was,  and  would  not  hear 
it  read. 

A  large  lot  of  clothing,  shoes  and  blankets,  was  received 


86 

to-day  by  Mr.  Wallis,  from  a  Mr.  Johnson,  of  Boston,  for 
distribution  among  the  North  Carolina  prisoners.  It  came 
very  opportunely,  for  they  were  sadly  in  want  of  it ;  there 
are  some  gentlemen  in  Boston,  although  one  would  not 
think  so,  to  judge  of  the  Boston  newspapers.  A  small 
parcel  was  received  to-day,  and  when  opened  was  found  to 
contain  two  pair  of  nice  yarn  socks,  with  a  slip  of  paper 
containing,  "  For  a  prisoner  at  Fort  Warren,  from  a  young 
lady  in  Boston,  who  has  a  brother,  a  prisoner,  in  Rich- 
mond ;"  that  girl's  heart  is  in  the  right  place. 

My  views  with  regard  to  the  Maryland  eloction  have 
been  more  than  realized, — our  letters  from  Baltimore,  and 
from  all  parts  of  the  State  represent  it  as  disgusting  in 
the  extreme,  not  worthy  of  being  dignified  by  the  name  of 
a  farce  ;  gangs  of  rowdies  and  armed  soldiers  stationed  at 
the  polls,  privileged  to  arrest  and  imprison  whom  they 
pleased,  while  the  ballot  box  was  stuffed  with  the  votes  of 
"Loyal  Citizens."  In  the  City  of  Baltimore  several 
hundred  were  arrested  and  sent  to  the  watch  houses,  and 
when  they  were  full,  to  the  theatre,  charged,  as  the 
"  'B&ltimoTG  American  "  quaintly  observes,  wi^i  "attempt- 
ing to  pollute  the  ballot  box,"  by  depositing  Democratic 
votes;  even  the  aforesaid  " Baltimore  American "  degraded 
as  it  is,  felt  impelled  to  express  its  regret  at  the  extent  to 
which  those  outrages  were  perpetrated,  not  that  they  were 
disgraceful  in  themselves/but  that  well  known  "Loyalty" 
of  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  Baltimore,  rendered 
them  unnecessary. 

How  any  one,  bearing  the  shape  of  a  man,  and  claiming 
to  be  one,  can  accept  the  fruits  of  such  villiany,  is  one  of 
the  curiosities  of  human  nature  beyond  my  comprehension — 
truly  there  must  be  a  charm  in  the  possession  of  power. 

Spent  the  evening  in  making  up  my  mess  accounts  for 
the  week,  a  very  troublesome  job. 

NOVEMBER  16.  Mr.  Seth  C.  Hawley,  the  agent  of  the 
State  Department,  referred  to  yesterday,  came  down  this 
morning  to  make  his  investigation  ;  did  not  visit  my  room, 


87 

and  left  word  lie  would  be  down  again  ;  prepared  my 
answer  in  writing,  declining  to  take  the  oath,  or  accept  my 
freedom  clogged  with  any  conditions ;  if  the  Government 
has  any  charge  against  me  let  them  produce  it. 

Hawley  was  very  much  disgusted  with  the  result  of  his 
mission,  and  with  the  prisoners  generally  :  found  but  three 
or  four  that  were  willing  to  take  the  oath,  and  had  to  listen 
to  a  great  deal  of  plain  talk  not  at  all  complimentary  to 
him  or  his  master  ;  one  of  the  prisoners  suggested  to  Haw- 
ley,  that  as  a  preliminary  to  the  opening  of  negotiations 
on  the  subject,  he  should  pay  over  the  six  hundred  dollars, 
which,  as  a  lawyer,  he  had  collected  some  years  since  and 
failed  to  account  for.  One  of  the  North  Carolina  officers, 
to  whom  he  commenced  talking  on  the  subject  of  the"  oath," 
promptly  demanded  satisfaction  for  the  insult ;  Hawley 
immediately  apologized,  protesting  that  he  was  not  aware 
he  was  conversing  with  a  prisoner  of  war :  duubtless  he 
will  report  us  as  "incorrigible  rebels." 

Very  dull  to-day  ;  not  sick — not  well ;  too  hot  in  the 
rooms — too  cold  and  windy  to  go  outside  ;  glad  when  night 
came  that  I  could  light  my  lamp  and  get  to  reading. 

NOVEMBER  17. — Sunday.  Church  service  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
North,  but  did  not  get  to  it ;  was  engaged  in  reading  and 
missed  the  hour.  Visiting  round  until  dinner,  which  was 
an  extra  good  one,  with  champagne  and  sherry  ;  presents 
to  Mr.  Faulkner  from  some  of  his  New  York  friends  ;  time 
begins  to  grow  heavy  and  monotonous  ;  getting  very  tired 
of  the  daily  routine  of  eating,  drinking  and  sleeping  ;  how 
I  shall  get  through  the  winter  if  kept  here  I  cannot  tell ; 
the  climate  is  horrible — cold,  foggy  and  changing  in  tem- 
perature half  a  dozen  times  a  day,  while  the  small  space 
allotted  us  for  exercise,  never  having  been  graded  or  paved, 
is  so  muddy  that  we  cannot  use  it  half  the  time  ;  it  is  true 
I  am  comfortably  fixed  within  doors,  but  it  will  be  tiresome 
in  the  extreme  ;  read  until  ten  o'clock  and  went  to  bed. 


88 

NOVEMBER  18.  Mr.  Hawley,  the  agent  of  Seward,  made 
his  appearance  again  to-day — handed  him  my  answer  in 
writing,  which  he  said  he  would  have  filed  in  the  State 
Department  ;*  it  was  in  substance  that  I  could  not  recog- 
nise the  justice  or  legality  of  my  arrest  by  the  acceptance 
of  any  conditions  as  the  price  of  my  release,  which  I  sup- 
pose fixes  me  here  for  the  winter  ;  two  of  my  recent  room 
mates  express  their  willingness  to  swear  to  anything,  and 
are  frank  enough  to  say  that  they  do  not  regard  an  illegal 
oath,  taken  under  duress,  as  having  any  moral  force. 

Another  large  lot  of  clothing  was  received  to  day  from 
the  ladies  of  Baltimore  for  the  Hatteras  prisoners.  Mr. 
Warfield,  Mr.  Harrison  and  Marshal  Kane  undertook  its 
distribution. 

The  boat  to-day  also  brought  down,  a  lean,  tall,  uncom- 
monly pious  looking  individual,  with  a  white  cravat, 
whose  business  it  was  to  distribute  among  the  prisoners 
some  religious  tracts  and  small  hymn-books.  I  securetl 
one  of  the  latter,  and  will  preserve  it  as  a  curiosity.  The 
hymns  were,  as  one  of  our  distinguished  fellow-citizens 
would  say,  extremely  "  simiscuous"  in  their  character.— 
Opening  the  book  in  the  middle,  the  first  my  eye  lit  on, 
was  "Come  to  Jesus  ;"  the  next  the  "Star  Spangled  Ban- 
ner ;"  then,  "  I  would  not  live  always,  no,  welcome  the 
tomb,"  followed  by  "Hail  Columbia,  Happy  Land," 
and  "Sinners  awake,  the  hour  is  come,"  preceding  the 
"Ked,  White  and  Blue."  Some  of  the  gentlemen  were 

FORT  WARREN,  November  16,  1861. 

*  I  have  twice  taken  the  oath  to  support  and  defend  the  Constitution  of 
the  United  States,  during  the  present  year,  and  am  not  disposed  to  turn  a 
solemn  obligation  into  ridicule  by  constant  repetitions  of  it. 

I  am  not  conscious  of  having,  in  any  manner,  violated  that  obligation. 
If  I  have,  or  if  the  Government  supposes  I  have,  I  have  a  right,  as  a  citi- 
zen of  the  United  States,  to  demand  an  investigation. 

I  cannot,  by  the  acceptance  of  conditions  for  my  release,  acknowledge 
by  implication  or  inference,  that  any  just  or  legal  cause  existed  for  my 
arrest,  which  I  utterly  deny. 

I  am  willing  to  hold  myself  in  readiness  to  meet  any  charges  that  may 
be  brought  against  me.  LAWRENCE  SANGSTON. 


89 

rude  enough  to  decline  his  hymn  books ;    for  my  part  I 
would  not  take  a  dollar  for  mine. 

Spent  the  evening  in  my  room  reading  the  Ingoldsby 
Legends,  and  playing  back-gammon  with  Colonel  Pegram ; 
went  to  bed  at  ten,  very  sleepy. 

NOVEMBER  19.  Spent  the  morning  as  usual  in  exercise, 
reading  and  visiting  the  neighbors  ;  although  I  have  rea- 
son to  be  thankful  for  my  comfortable  quarters,  I  regret 
very  much  my  separation  from  my  Baltimore  and  Mary- 
land friends  ;  they  are  all,  with  the  exception  of  Marshal 
Kane,  located  on  the  other  side  of  the  sally-port,  and 
although  we  have  the  privilege  of  visiting  freely  during 
the  day,  we  cannot  cross  the  sally-port  at  night,  but  have 
free  access  to  the  eight  rooms  on  our  side  of  it,  from  sun- 
set until  eleven  o'clock.  My  associates  are  altogether 
among  officers  of  the  army  and  navy,  and  although  very 
clever  and  intelligent  gentlemen,  it  would  be  a  relief  occa- 
sionally to  spend  an  evening  with  my  own  people;  I  might 
perhaps  get  permission  to  do  so,  but  1  dislike  asking  favors 
of  our  keepers. 

I  have  already  noticed  that  Colonel  Dimick  was  kind 
enough  to  write  to  Fort  LaFayette  for  our  wines  and 
liquors  that  were  kept  by  Lieutenant  Wood,  on  our 
departure  ;  almost  all  the  prisoners  had  more  or  less 
liquors  in  the  store  room,  either  purchased,  or  the  gift  of 
kind  friends,  and  generally  of  the  finest  quality ;  to-day 
Dr.  Thomas  received  two  demijohns  and  a  half  one,  of 
whiskey,  part  of  his  stock,  being  all  that  arrived  ;  as  the 
Commandant  of  Fort  LaFayette  does  not  add  drinking  to 
his  numerous  failings,  he  could  have  had  none  other  than 
a  pecuniary  motive  in  confiscating  them,  and  somebody 
must  have  made  two  or  •  three  hundred  dollars  by  the 
operation. 

Keceived  pleasant  letters  from  home  and  spent  the 
evening  in  answering  and  getting  up  my  correspondence, 
generally,  which  had  fallen  in  arrears. 


90 

NOVEMBER  20.  Suffered  very  much  last  night  from 
Lumbago,  must  have  taken  cold,  first  time  for  nearly  a 
month  I  have  had  it ;  it  does  not  affect  my  general  health, 
but  is  exceedingly  painful  and  annoying ;  feel  very  dull 
to-day,  too  cold  and  blustering  to  exercise  much  in  the 
open  air,  and  but  little  disposition  to  do  anything  within 
doors;  went  to  No.  2  and  played  cards  with  Governor 
Morehead,*  Warfield  and  Pitts  for  an  hour,  got  tired  of 
that;  helped  them,  in  connexion  with  Dr.  Thomas  and 
Frank  Howard,  to  drink  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  but  that  did 
not  raise  my  spirits.  Went  back  to  my  own  room  and 
played  back-gammon  with  Colonel  Pegram  for  an  hour  or 
two,  got  tired  of  that ;  tried  to  read  the  Boston  papers,  but 
soon  became  disgusted  with  them,  particularly  on  reading 
that  Captain  Updegraff,  the  officer  who  commanded  the 
gang  of  thieves  that  rifled  our  baggage  on  the  voyage  from 
Fort  LaFayette  to  Fort  Warren,  was,  for  "meritorious 
conduct,"  promoted  to  be  a  Colonel  in  the  army;  went 


*  The  Governor,  like  myself,  would  occasionally  become  restive,  and 
find  it  difficult  to  get  through  the  day;  accustomed  to  an  active  life,  men- 
tally and  physically,  enjoying  for  many  years  the  highest  honors  that  could 
be  conferred  on  him  by  his  native  State,  and  surrounded  by  all  comforts 
and  luxuries  that  wealth  and  position  could  give  him,  retired  from  public 
life  and  devoting  himself  to  his  family  and  the  cultivation  of  his  estate ;  he 
found  the  transition  to  the  loathsome  battery  rooms  at  Fort  LaFayette 
almost  unendurable. 

The  story  of  his  arrest  was  the  same  as  of  all  the  prisoners,  dragged 
from  his  bed  at  midnight,  hurried  off  without  a  change  of  clothing,  taken 
by  special  trains  from  town  to  town  and  from  jail  to  jail,  to  avoid  the 
service  of  writs  of  Habeas  Corpus,  and  finally  lodged  in  Fort  LaFayette, 
after  a  journey  of  a  thousand  miles,  in  the  same  clothing  in  which  he  was 
taken,  and  then  furnished  with  a  bag  of  half  rotten  straw  to  sleep  on. 
He  had  been  sent  to  Washington  by  the  State  of  Kentucky,  to  represent 
her  in  the  Peace  Convention,  so  called,  and  having  spoken  and  voted  in 
favor  of  Peace,  was  thereafter  regarded  a  "  dangerous  "  man. 

He  was  released  in  February  and  returned  to  his  home  in  Kentucky  ; 
although  taking  no  part  in  public  affairs  his  presence  there  was  supposed 
by  the  Government  to  have  an  unfavorable  influence,  and  his  re-arrest 
was  ordered ;  getting  wind  of  it,  two  or  three  hours  start  enabled  him  to 
reach  the  Canada  frontier  before  his  pursuers,  from  whence  a  few  weeks 
afterwards  he  went  to  England. 


91 

into  my  little  room  and  lit  the  lamp,  thinking  I  would 
read  for  two  or  three  hours,  gave  it  up  and  went  to  bed, 
but  not  to  sleep.  The  Commodore,  observing  that  my 
thoughts  "were  in  a  train  that  did  not  run  on  sleepers," 
kindly  entertained  me  with  a  very  interesting  account  of 
his  capture  at  Fort  Hatteras,  at  Hatteras  Inlet ;  it  appears 
that  the  Fort  was  a  very  small  one,  built  for  only  one 
hundred  and  fifty  men,  and  having  bomb-proof  shelter  for 
only  that  number  ;  when  the  attack  commenced  he  had  in 
the  Fort  three  hundred  men,  and  during  the  night  follow- 
ing, four  hundred  additional  were  sent  into  the  Fort, — on 
the  second  day's  bombardment,  the  ships  anchored  two 
miles  distant,  in  a  perfect  calm,  a  thing  hitherto  unknown 
in  the  neighborhood  of  Cape  Hatteras,  obtained  the  exact 
range  of  the  Fort,  and  could  place  every  shell  they  fired, 
into  it,  while  in  the  Fort,  there  was  not  a  gun  that  would 
reach  over  a  mile;  four-fifths  of  the  men  were  without 
shelter,  and  their  retreat  entirely  cut  off;  under  such 
circumstances  it  was  necessary,  to  save  the  lives  of  the 
men,  to  hoist  the  white  flag  for  a  parley;  it  was  now  the 
duty  of  General  Butler,  who  commanded  the  opposing 
forces,  to  have  sent  an  officer  in  a  boat  to  have  ascertained 
what  was  wanted,  instead  of  which,  he  brought  several  of 
his  vessels  under  the  guns  of  the  Fort,  one  of  which,  the 
"  Harriet  Lane,"  got  ashore,  and  then  sent  a  boat  ashore 
to  receive  the  proposition  Commodore  Barren  had  to  make. 
Barron  proposed  to  surrender  as  "Prisoners  of  War." 
Butler  demanded  an  unconditional  surrender.  Barron 
refused  to  capitulate  in  any  other  way,  insisting  that  his 
defences  were  but  little  injured,  and  he  had  plenty  of 
ammunition  left,  and  that  if  his  terms  were  not  acceded 
to,  he  would,  after  giving  sufficient  time  for  the  officers  to 
regain  the  decks  of  their  vessels,  hoist  his  flag  and 
resume  the  battle. 

Butler  now  began  to  understand  the  position  in  which 
his  ignorance  of  the  rules  of  naval  warfare  had  placed  him  ; 
the  Fort  would  certainly  ultimately  be  reduced  by  the 
powerful  fleet  that  was  safely  anchored  out  of  reach  of 


92 

its  guns ;  but  in  the  meantime,  Butler  and  the  ships  under 
the  guns  of  the  Fort  could  he  blown  in  the  air  before  they 
could  possibly  escape,  and  under  the  necessity  of  the  case, 
Barren's  demands  were  acceded  to,  and  the  garrison 
capitulated  as  prisoners  of  war,  having  guaranteed  to 
them  all  the  rights  accorded  to  prisoners  of  war  by  the 
usage  of  civilized  warfare,  being  the  first  time  the  United 
States,  through  any  of  its  officers,  has  recognized  the 
Confederates  as  belligerents,  and  this  explains  why  the 
North  Carolina  officers  have  the  parole  of  the  island, 
wear  their  uniforms,  and  enjoy  privileges  not  accorded 
to  other  prisoners  of  war.  This  portion  of  the  capitulation 
of  Fort  Hatteras,  however,  does  not  appear  in  the  official 
report  of  General  Butler  ;  perhaps  the  General  thought  it 
"  would  not  look  well  in  print." 

NOVEMBER  21.  Still  suffering  with  Lumbago,  and  con- 
sequently dull  and  gloomy,  not  only  from  that,  but  other 
desagremens.  This  is  the  twenty-fifth  anniversary  of 
my  wedding  day,  the  day  on  which  we  were  to  have 
celebrated  our  silver  wedding,  and  I  am  in  a  military 
prison,  five  hundred  miles  from  home.  May  the  foul 
fiend  blast  those  who  sent  me  here  in  utter  violation  of 
Law  and  Justice  ;  I  don't  often  indulge  in  the  luxury  of 
swearing,  if  it  be  a  luxury,  but  to-day  I  can't  help  it; 
perhaps  the  recording  angel  will  treat  me  as  liberally  as 
he  did  "  Uncle  Toby." 

Wrote  home  to  my  wife,  and  was  sorry  afterwards  I  did 
so,  because  of  the  sadness  of  my  missive's  tenor : — fresh 
arrival  of  prisoners  to-day,  two  officers  and  twenty-three 
privates,  captured  at  Santa  Rosa  Island,  near  Pensacola, 
in  the  fight  there  with  Billy  Wilson's  regiment  of  New 
York  thieves  ;  they  were  very  ragged  and  destitute :  for- 
tunately a  large  lot  of  clothing  arrived  to-day,  from  the 
Baltimore  ladies,  which  was  distributed  among  them : 
coming  from  a  warm  climate  and  being  very  thinly  clad, 
they  were  almost  frozen  to-day,  by  being  kept  on  the 
parade  ground  for  two  hours  in  the  face  of  a  driving 


93 

storm,  until  quarters  were  assigned  them.  The  Baltimore 
people  have  been  exceedingly  liberal  to  the  prisoners  here, 
scarcely  a  day  passes  that  something  does  not  arrive  for 
them. 

NOVEMBER  22.  Usual  routine  for  the  morning,  reading, 
visiting  and  exercise,  wrote  to  my  brother  to  know  if  he 
could  learn  through  some  of  his  Union  friends,  what  the 
Government  propose  to  do  with  us  ?  but  I  fear  he  may  not 
act,  as  his  own  " loyalty"  may  be  suspected,  if  he  makes 
any  inquiries. 

My  attention  was  called  to-day  to  a  fact  I  had  hitherto 
not  noticed,  that  two  of  our  room  mates,  although  joining 
in  general  conversation,  did  not  speak  to  each  other,  and 
made  some  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  ;  it  appears  they  were 
merchants  in  the  same  city,  and  for  many  years  partners 
in  business;  they  separated  as  partners  sometimes  will  do, 
with  some  ill-feeling  or  misunderstanding,  both  went  to 
England  on  business,  and  the  story  goes,  that  in  returning 
they  took  different  steamers  to  avoid  coming  in  contact ; 
each  was  arrested  on  his  way  home,  one  in  Detroit,  the 
other  in  Cincinnati,  both  arrived  by  the  same  boat  on  the 
same  day,  at  Fort  Warren,  and  were  quartered  in  the 
same  room, — so  all  their  efforts  to  keep  apart  were  unsuc- 
cessful. 

Spent  the  evening  in  reading  and  playing  back-gammon 
with  Colonel  Pegram. 

NOVEMBER  23.  Usual  routine  for  the  morning ;  received 
some  fine  old  whiskey  from  home,  and  consequently  had 
numerous  visitors  who  called  to  enquire  after  my  health. 
Officers  making  preparations  to  receive  Messrs.  Mason  and 
Slidell,  who  are  expected  here  to-morrow  ;  notwithstand- 
ing the  rejoicing  of  the  press  and  the  hallelujahs  of  the 
pulpit  at  their  capture,  the  approval  of  the  President  and 
Secretary  of  the  Navy  of  the  act  of  Captain  Wilkes,  the 
vote  of  thanks  given  him  by  Congress,  the  exultation  of 
Governor  Andrews  at  Wilkes  having  bearded  the  British 


94 

lion,  and  the  general  demand  of  the  Northern  press  that 
the  captives  shall  he  confined  in  a  dungeon  and  fed  on 
bread  and  water,  it  is  very  evident  that  Mr.  Seward  does 
not  feel  at  ease,  and  is  doubtful  of  the  result,  for  orders 
came  yesterday  to  prepare  quarters  suitable  to  their  rank  ; 
nine  North  Carolina  officers — a  Colonel,  a  Lieutenant- 
Colonel,  a  Major  and  six  Captains  were  turned  out  of  their 
rooms  to  accommodate  them,  the  floor  carpeted  and  the 
rooms  well  furnished  with  bedsteads,  good  beds  and  bed- 
ding, tables,  chairs,  &c.,  which  has  never  before  been 
done  for  any  prisoners ;  their  quarters  are  adjacent  to 
mine — only  the  passage  between  us — so  we  will  be  close 
neighbors. 

An  easterly  storm  set  in  after  dinner  and  blew  a  gale 
all  night ;  heard  the  surf  breaking  over  the  rocks  until  I 
went  to  sleep. 

NOVEMBER  24.  Storm  over,  bright,  clear  morning ;  queer 
climate  this — rain,  hail,  snow,  fog  and  sunshine  all  in 
twenty- four  hours ;  spent  part  of  the  morning  in  collecting 
autographs  in  a  book  for  which  I  sent  to  Boston  yesterday; 
church  service  as  usual  by  Mr.  North ;  the  Colonel  has  fit- 
ted up  a  room  specially  for  the  purpose  with  stoves  and 
benches  ;  it  is  well  attended  by  the  officers  and  soldiers  of 
the  Garrison,  as  well  as  the  prisoners,  the  Colonel  always 
taking  part  in  the  service. 

At  eleven  o'clock  this  morning  the  steamer  San  Jacinto, 
Captain  Wilkes,  arrived  with  her  prisoners,  Messrs.  Mason 
and  Slidell,  and  Messrs.  Eustis  and  McFaiiand,  their  sec- 
retaries, who  were  duly  installed  in  their  quarters  ;  they 
looked  pleasant  and  cheerful,  and  a  stranger  might  have 
supposed  they  were  visitors  instead  of  prisoners. 

After  delivering  them,  Captain  Wilkes  took  his  ship  up 
to  Boston  to  receive  the  promised  ovation,  and  aid  the  loyal 
and  patriotic  people  of  that  city  in  making  asses  of  them- 
selves. 

Wrote  to  Mr.  John  Garrett  to  know  whether  he  could 
give  me  any  information  relative  to  our  confinement,  or 


95 

the  prospects  of  a  release.  Spent  the  evening  in  my  room 
in  writing  and  listening  to  the  new-comers  giving  an  ac- 
count of  themselves  and  their  capture. 

NOVEMBER  25.     Passed  a  restless   night,  suffering  very 
much  with  Lumbago  ;  snow  until  noon,  when  it  turned  into 
rain  and   slush,   preventing    any  out-door    exercise ;    got 
through  the  day  as  well  as  I  could,  visiting  my  neighbors 
and  gossiping.     Spent  the  afternoon  in  Mason  and  Slidell's 
room,  listening  to  a  narration  of  their  voyage,  how  they 
ran  the  blockade  at  Charleston,  their  arrival  at,  and  recep- 
tion in  Havana,,  their  capture  by  the  San  Jacinto,  their 
treatment  by   Captain  Wilkes,  (which  was  courteous,  he 
giving  up  his  own  cabin  to  them,)  and  their  voyage  to  this 
place.     The  United  States  Marshal  with  some  of  his  depu- 
ties joined  the  ship    off  New  York,  and   endeavored  to 
make  an  exhibition  of  their  "  loyalty"  by  rudeness  towards 
the  prisoners,  assuming  that  they   had  charge  of  them, 
which  was   instantly  stopped,  Captain  Wilkes  informing 
the  Marshal  that  he  commanded  the  ship,   and  the  New 
York  officers  were  only  passengers  ;    found  their  conversa- 
tion very  interesting  and  their  genuine  Habanas  delicious. 
After  writing  for  an  hour  in  the  evening,  making  up  my 
mess  accounts  for  the  week,  had  a  visit  from  Mr.  Eustis 
and  Mr.  McFarland ;  they  take  their  capture  and  imprison- 
ment very  composedly,  being  confident  that  England  will 
demand  their  surrender,  and  restoration  on  the  deck  of  a 
national  English  vessel ;  on  the  whole  they  rather  appear 
gratified  at  it,  believing  it  will  hasten  the  rupture,  which 
they  think  inevitable,  between  England  and  the  North. 
I   am  not   sufficiently  versed   in    such    matters   to   know 
whether  the  belief  is  well  founded  ;  before  leaving,  Mr.  Me 
Farland  entertained  us  with  music  on  the  guitar,  having 
an  excellent  voice  ;  his  opera  music  was  entirely  too  scien- 
tific for  me  ;  the  ballads  were  delightful. 

To-day,  Mrs.  Gelston,  the  lady  who  was  so  kind  to  the 
prisoners  at  Fort  LaFayette,  sent  us  a  large  box  of 
provisions,  which  was  distributed  among  the  Hatteras 


96 

prisoners,  as  they  have  to  live  altogether  on  the  Govern- 
ment rations  ;  a  large  lot  also  came  from  Mr.  Milbourne, 
the  blind  preacher;  thirty  turkeys,  which  were  in  like 

manner  distributed,  reserving  a  small  portion  for  our  mess. 

« 

NOVEMBER  26.  Suffered  very  much  last  night  from 
Lumbago,  day  cold  and  raw,  with  occasional  snow,  the 
morning's  boat  brought  down  the  Marshal  with  orders  to 
release  thirteen  prisoners  on  taking  the  oath  of  allegiance,, 
nine  took  it  and  departed,  the  other  four  refused. 

Of  the  nine,  seven  were  inmates  of  "number  Forty-five," 
one  of  whom  remarked  to  me  as  he  passed  out,  that  "he 
had  been  stunk  into  taking  the  oath,"  the  other  two  were 
my  former  room  mates,  Messrs.  Quinlan  and  Landing, 
members  of  the  Maryland  Legislature  ;  Quinlan  has  been 
sick  for  a  long  time  with  a  chronic  dysentery,  and  would 
have  died  if  detained  much  longer  ;  he  has  repeatedly 
offered  to  take  the  oath,  with  a  view  of  saving  his  life,  but 
has  hitherto  been  refused  ;  Landing's  habits  are  bad,  being 
drunk  whenever  he  could  get  the  liquor,  and  particularly 
so  to-day,  having  smuggled  two  bottles  of  whiskey  into 
his  room,  in  addition  to  the  one  allowed  by  the  regulations  ; 
he  was  too  drunk  to  know  whether  he  were  taking  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  Win.  H.  Seward,  or  the  Emperor  of  Japan  ; 
the  Government  need  not  be  afraid  of  either  of  them  ;  great 
rejoicing  among  their  room  mates  at  their  departure  :  sick- 
ness and  drunkenness  are  disagreeable  companions  in 
crowded  rooms. 

Our  mess  continues  to  improve  ;  fare  now  equal  to  any 
of  the  hotels ;  the  only  trouble  is  I  eat  too  much  for  so 
little  exercise. 

To  lessen  the  trouble,  and  at  the  same  time  make  it  more 
agreeable,  we  have  arranged  with  Mason  and  Slidell  and 
their  secretaries,  to  have  supper  alternately  in  each  other's 
rooms,  this  gives  us  the  servants  of  both  rooms  to  wait  on 
the  table  :  and  Eustis  is  a  capital  good  cook,  (Kane  thinks 
lie  is,  but  it  is  a  mistake) — the  advantage  of  this  arrange- 
ment is  on  our  side,  as  their  stock  of  stores  is  more  exten- 


97 

sive  than  ours  ;  I  have  been  unanimously  elected  to  brew 
the  whiskey  punch  at  ten  o'clock ;  perhaps  this  mark  of 
confidence  was  extended  because  I  happen  to  be  the  only 
one  who  has  a  stock  of  Scotch  and  Irish  whiskey,  but  it 
may  be  I  make  it  better  than  any  of  the  others. 

After  supper,  Mason  and  Slidell  went  over  the  whole 
subject  of  International  Law  as  applicable  to  their  case, 
and  did  not,  for  a  moment,  entertain  a  doubt  of  the  result ; 
Mr.  Mason  went  so  far  as  to  make  a  calculation  of  the  time 
they  would  remain  in  Fort  Warren ;  he  said  the  Captain  of 
the  "Trent,"  which  vessel  only  went  as  far  as  St.  Thomas, 
would  deem  the  matter  of  sufficient  importance  to  go  to 
England  himself  and  report  in  person,  that  he  would  arrive 
at  Southampton  on  the  28th  of  November,  and  immediately 
take  an  express  train  for  London  :  that  the  news  would  be 
instantly  telegraphed  all  over  England  and  create  an 
unparalleled  excitement :  public  meetings  would  be  held 
in  every  direction  calling  upon  the  government  to  demand 
immediate  reparation  for  the  outrage  and  insult  to  the 
British  flag  :  that  the  government  would  within  five  days 
dispatch  a  special  messenger  of  rank,  with  a  positive  demand 
for  their  surrender,  and  an  ample  apology  for  the  outrage, 
with  instructions  to  Lord  Lyons,  if  refused,  to  demand  his 
passports  and  return  home  immediately ;  that  in  view  of  a 
possible  refusal,  England  would  immediately  prohibit  the 
exportation  of  military  stores,  and  commence  shipping 
troops  and  munitions  of  war  to  Canada  :  that  on  the  arrival 
of  the  messenger  in  Washington,  Mr.  Seward  would  ask  a 
few  days  grace  for  the  sake  of  appearances,  which  would 
be  granted  :  that  in  spite  of  all  the  bluster  of  the  press,  he 
would  make  a  virtue  of  necessity  and  yield  to  the  demands 
of  England :  that  a  British  ship  of  war  would  be  sent  to 
Fort  Warren  from  either  Halifax  or  Bermuda  :  that  they 
would  leave  on  or  about  the  1st  January,  and  by  the  15th 
January,  would  be  at  their  respective  posts  in  London  and 
Paris. 

The  experience  of  Mr.  Mason  on  questions  of  Inter- 
national Law,  acquired  by  many  years'  service  as  Chairman 


98 

of  the  Committee  on  Foreign  Relations  in  Congress,  per- 
haps authorizes  him  to  make  this  statement  in  advance, 
' '  nous  verrons. ' ' 

While  sipping  the  punch,  Colonel  Pegram  and  Mr. 
McFarland  entertained  us  with  some  fine  singing  and  music 
on  the  guitar,  which  they  continued  long  after  the  lights 
were  put  out,  and  we  went  to  bed. 

NOVEMBER  27.  One  of  the  marvels  of  this  wonderful 
climate,  a  clear,  calm,  warm,  shining  day,  about  equal  to 
June  weather  in  Maryland  ;  in  all  probability  we  shall 
have  a  gale  of  wind  and  a  snow  storm  before  morning. 

Another  arrival  to-day,  Captain  Tatnall,  of  the  Navy, 
just  returned  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  and  one  departure, 
Mr.  Langley,  of  New  Orleans.  Spent  most  of  the  morn- 
ing in  collecting  mess  dues  for  the  week,  and  writing  to 
Boston  for  provisions  ;  had  to  visit  all  the  rooms,  and  found 
the  universal  subject  of  discussion  was  International  Law, 
all  contending  that  the  laws  of  nations  were  violated  in  the 
capture  of  Mason  and  Slidell,  except  Mr.  Faulkner,  who 
took  the  opposite  ground,  while  he  regretted  it;  went  back 
to  my  own  room  and  found  the  same  subject  under  discus- 
sion, Mr.  Mason  going  over  the  whole  ground  to  a  numer- 
ous audience  which  had  dropped  in  to  hear  him ;  mail  came 
in  with  papers  from  Boston  and  New  York,  nothing  in 
them  but  Mason  and  Slidell  and  International  Law,  all 
agreeing  that  Captain  Wilkes  had  immortalized  himself, 
and  some  naming  him  for  the  next  President  of  the  United 
States  ;  many  of  them  insisting  that  England  ought  to  be 
whipped  any  how,  as  a  punishment  for  her  sympathy  for 
the  rebels  ;  long  account  of  the  grand  banquet  given  to 
Captain  Wilkes  in  Boston,  and  the  very  effectual  manner 
in  which  Governor  Andrews  and  the  "  solid  men"  of  that 
city  made  fools  and  asses  of  themselves. 

One  of  the  Boston  papers  contained  a  very  interesting 
letter  from  "  their  Fort  Warren  correspondent,"  describ- 
ing the  arrival  and  reception  of  Mason  and  Slidell;  their 
villainous,  cut-throat  looking  countenances ;  their  baggage, 


99 

consisting  of  a  small  amount  of  clothing  and  a  large 
amount  of  liquors  and  cigars ;  the  close  confinement  in 
their  dungeon  apartments  ;  their  dinner,  (the  fellow  had 
the  ill-manners  to  peep  through  the  bars,)  consisting  of 
salt  pork,  bread  and  bean  soup,  served  on  tin  plates  and 
eaten  with  an  iron  spoon  ;  how  Slidell,  whose  habits  were 
supposed  to  be  more  luxurious  than  Mason's,  turned  up  his 
nose  at  food  that  was  too  good  for  them,  and  how  thank- 
ful they  ought  to  be  to  a  humane  and  merciful  government 
for  not  hanging  them  as  traitors,  &c.,  &c. 

Head  the  letter  this  evening  to  Mason  and  Slidell  at  the 
supper  table,  while  they  were  discussing  some  terrapins 
and  oysters  from  Maryland,  and  a  very  fine  boned  turkey 
from  Cranston,  of  the  New  York  Hotel ;  noticed  the  sen- 
tinels as  they  passed  the  windows  looking  wistfully  in, 
doubtless  regretting  they  were  not  inside  and  we  outside. 

After  supper  we  were  again  entertained  with  the  voices 
and  guitars  of  Pegram  and  McFarland  until  bed-time. 

NOVEMBER  28.  Snow,  rain,  hail  and  slush  until  mid-day 
when  the  sun  came  out,  but  the  ground  was  unfit  for  exer- 
cise ;  quite  a  large  number  of  prisoners  discharged  to-day, 
fourteen  from  Kentucky,  including  the  idiot,  and  Mr. 
Carter  from  Baltimore;  the  former  had  not  a  dollar  among 
the  whole  party,  and  Governor  Morehead  protested  in  the 
strongest  terms  against  the  cruelty  of  turning  those  men 
adrift,  seven  or  eight  hundred  miles  from  home,  with  no 
means  of  reaching  there;  we  had  been  in  the  habit  of 
taking  up  a  collection  among  ourselves  to  defray  the  ex- 
penses of  individual  prisoners  who  were  discharged,  to 
their  homes,  but  this  lot  was  too  large  for  our  limited 
means ;  after  a  long  discussion,  the  Colonel  and  the  Marshal 
from  Boston  promised  they  should  be  sent  home  at  the 
expense  of  the  Government. 

All  of  them  took  the  oath,  and  went  through  the  usual 
search  by  the  Marshal,  a  most  searching  operation.  When 
a  prisoner  is  released  on  parole  of  honor,  he  packs  up  his 
baggage,  which  is  sent  to  the  wharf  for  him,  takes  leave 


of  his  friends,  and  departs  like  a  gentleman ;  if  he  takes 
the  oath  of  allegiance,  he  is  not  permitted  to  leave  his 
room  until  he  finally  departs ;  a  guard  is  placed  over  him 
to  see  that  he  does  not  communicate  with  the  other 
prisoners ;  when  ready,  he  and  his  baggage  are  taken  to 
the  office,  and  undergo  a  rigid  examination  from  the 
Marshal  or  some  of  his  deputies,  even  to  the  shaking  out 
of  every  shirt  and  handkerchief  to  see  that  nothing  is  con- 
cealed in  them.  I  was  accidentally  a  witness  this  morning, 
to  the  search  of  Carter's  trunk,  the  Marshal  was  on  his 
knees  carefully  taking  out  each  article,  opening  and 
shaking  it,  and  even  reading  over  the  letters  from  Carter's 
wife,  which  had  already  been  read  before  he  received  them, 
while  Carter  was  standing  meekly  looking  on  ;  I  could  not 
help  expressing  my  indignation  at  the  insult  in  very  plain 
terms ;  the  Marshal  looked  up  in  amazement  at  the  temerity 
of  a  prisoner  in  thus  addressing  him,  expecting  me  to 
wilt  under  his  withering  gaze,  but  finding  I  did'nt,  quietly 
resumed  his  dirty  work.  It  is  evident  they  have  no  con- 
fidence in  the  man  who  would  accept  his  liberty  on  such 
terms  and  regard  him  as  degraded,  and  I  think  they  are 
right,  although  in  Carter's  case  the  circumstances  which 
impelled  him  to  take  the  oath,  justified  him  in  so  doing  ; 
we  were  all  sorry  to  part  with  him,  for  apart  from  being 
an  agreeable  companion,  he  was  very  useful ;  the  North 
Carolina  officers  will  particularly  miss  him,  as  he  under- 
took the  management  of  their  mess,  and  kept  the  accounts. 
At  twelve  o'clock  orders  were  given  for  us  to  repair  to 
our  rooms;  while  wondering  what  could  be  the  object,  and 
thinking,  perhaps,  it  was  to  prepare  for  shipping  us  to 
Sandusky  Island  or  Fort  Mackinaw,  somewhere  in  the  direc- 
tion of  sun  set,  with  which  we  had  been  threatened,  an 
officer  made  his  appearance  in  the  room,  and  with  great 
ceremony  and  dignity,  read  us  a  State  paper  signed  by 
William  H.  Seward,  forbidding  the  prisoners  to  employ 
counsel  in  their  behalf,  assuring  them  that  employment  of 
counsel  would  be  regarded  by  the  State  Department  as 
additional  cause  for  continuing  their  imprisonment;  a 


101 

queer  doctrine,  not  laid  down  I  believe,  in  any  of  the  law 
books,  asked  him  for  a  copy  of  the  precious  document,  he 
excused  himself  on  the  ground  that  he  had  to  read  it  to  all 
the  prisoners,  and  would  not  have  time  to  copy  it  before 
the  boat  returned. 

Spent  the  evening  in  my  small  room,  reading,  writing 
and  playing  back-gammon  with  Colonel  Pegram  and 
Mr.  McFarland. 

NOVEMBER  29.  Snow  and  rain  all  day,  preventing  any 
out  door  exercise,  so  spent  the  day  in  reading,  writing, 
back-gammon  and  visiting  the  neighbors.  One  arrival 
to-day,  Mr.  Fuller,  of  Lexington,  Ky.,  of  course  he  has 
not  done  anything,  that's  the  uniform  story  of  all  new 
comers  ;  find  the  discussion  on  International  Law  still  con- 
tinues, a  little  of  it  does  very  well,  but  am  getting  tired 
of  it ;  this  evening,  Colonel  Pegram,  after  reading  an  hour 
in  my  little  room,  remarked  that  Mason  would  be  in 
presently ,  and  as  he  had  had  a  surfeit  of  the  laws  of  nations, 
he  would,  spend  the  evening  in  Major  Gillam's  room, 
where  he  could  listen  to  something  else  by  way  of  variety ; 
in  a  few  minutes  he  returned  and  proposed  a  game  of 
back-gammon,  asked  him  what  brought  him  back  so  soon, 
said  he  found  Mason  in  the  room  with  a  large  audience 
round  him,  going  over  the  whole  subject. 

Mason  came  in  at  ten,  in  time  for  the  whiskey  punch, 
and  remained  an  hour  ;  got  him  on  other  and  more  interest- 
ing subjects  ;  he  has  fine  conversational  powers. 

NOVEMBER  30.  Snow  and  slush  all  day,  with  a  beautiful 
starry  night,  funny  climate  this;  usual  in-door  routine, 
reading,  writing,  visiting,  smoking,  playing  back-gam- 
mon, any  thing  to  kill  time,  hard  work  to  get  through  the 
day. 

Among  the  Hatteras  prisoners  are  four  negroes  who 
were  servants  to  the  officers,  and  accompanied  them  hither; 
two  are  free  and  two  slaves,  all  have  families  at  home,  and 
since  the  cold  weather  has  set  in  they  have  become  dis- 


102 

satisfied  and  wish  to  return  home  ;  a  few  days  ago  Major 
Grillam  wrote  to  the  State  Department  stating  the  circum- 
stances and  asking  permission  to  send  them  hack  ;  to-day 
Colonel  Dimick  received  orders  to  discharge  them  on  their 
taking  that  universal  governmental  panacea,  "the  oath  of 
allegiance  to  the  United  States,"  the  negroes  were  sent  for, 
but  indignantly  refused  ;  the  first  one,  a  free  negro,  when 
the  oath  was  read  to  him  replied,  "Lor  bless  you  massa 
Dimick,  I  can't  take  no  such  oaf  as  dat :  I'm  a  secesh 
nigger;"  the  next  was  a  slave  who  wanted  to  know  if 
"Massa  Greorge  had  taken  dat  oaf,"  and  on  being  informed 
in  the  negative,  replied,  "I  can't  take  no  oaf  dat  massa 
George  won't  take."  So  the  poor  darkies  will  have  to 
remain  until  there  is  a  general  discharge.  One  of  the  free 
negroes  owns  several  thousand  dollars  of  property  in  North 
Carolina,  and  is  very  uneasy  lest  the  "dam  Yankees,"  as 
he  terms  them,  will  destroy  it,  yet  would  not  take  the  oath 
to  save  it ;  I  remarked  to  him  that  perhaps  he  had  better 
have  taken  it  and  gone  home,  he  promptly  replied,  "I 
ain't  going  out  here  on  no  dishonorable  terms."  I  fear 
the  suggestion  has  impaired  his  good  opinion  of  me,  for  on 
asking  him  shortly  afterwards  to  bring  me  a  bucket  of  water 
from  the  pump,  he  did  it  very  reluctantly. 

DECEMBER  1. — Sunday.  Delicious,  balmy  morning  ;  did 
not  go  to  church  as  I  ought  to  have  done  ;  the  fact  is  I  am 
losing  fast  what  little  piety  I  ever  had,  and  fear  if  I  remain 
here  much  longer  I  shall  have  none  left — the  region  seems 
anti-religious.  Spent  the  most  of  the  day  in  the  open  air,, 
for  fear  this  will  be  the  last  fine  day  of  the  winter;  in  the 
evening  read  aloud  for  my  companions  and  wrote  to  the 
Rev.  E.  N.  Kirk,  of  Boston,  who  has  sent  us  a  number  of 
bound  volumes  of  his  sermons,  and  kindly  offered  to  preach 
for  us ;  accepting  his  offer  and  thanking  him  for  his  remem- 
brance of  those  in  "bonds"  and  requesting  him  to  preach 
on  next  Sabbath  from  the  following  text: 

"For  it  seemeth  to  me  unreasonable  to  send  a  prisoner 
and  not  withal  to  signify  the  crimes  laid  against  him;" 


103 

Acts,  c.  25,  v.  27.  Perhaps  Mr.  Kirk  may  consider  that 
doctrine  "disloyal"  and  not  adapted  to  the  civilization  of 
the  present  day,  perhaps  not.  We  will  see. 

DECEMBER  2.  Nothing  to  break  the  monotony  of  the 
day  but  the  arrival  of  six  more  prisoners,  hard  looking 
cases,  who  were  quartered  in  number  forty-five  ;  found  on 
going  to  that  delectable  room  that  they  were  fishermen, 
captured  with  their  fishing  batteaux  on  the  Potomac 
river,  on  their  way  home  to  Baltimore ;  among  them  were 
two  Shany's,  father  and  uncle  of  John  Shany,  a  notorious 
rowdy  of  Baltimore,  and  as  it  is  sometimes  called,  of  a  bad 
breed  ;  they  were  both  old  men,  very  ragged  and  dirty  ; 
the  captain  of  the  steam  tug,  who  captured  them,  found 
six  hundred  dollars  in  gold,  on  searching  them,  which 
convinced  him  they  were  rebels,  so  he  confiscated  the  gold, 
and  sent  them  to  Fort  McHenry,  whence  they  were  trans- 
ferred to  Fort  Warren  ;  I  think  the  captain  was  right,  for 
the  possession  of  that  amount  in  gold  on  their  persons 
would  have  been  proof  positive  to  my  mind,  that  they  had 
taken  a  load  of  "contraband,"  to  Virginia,  and  were 
returning  with  the  proceeds,  using  their  fishing  boat  as  a 
blind,  but  whether  right  or  wrong,  the  captain  made  a 
good  thing  of  it,  for  it  is  not  likely  they  will  ever  hear  of 
their  gold  again.*  Another  burial  to-day,  from  among 
the  Hatteras  prisoners. 

*They  were  released  a  few  days  afterwards,  on  taking  the  usual  oath  of 
allegiance.  There  must  have  been  some  mistake  in  sending  them  to  Fort 
Warren,  five  hundred  miles  from  where  they  were  captured,  as  they  were 
ready  at  any  moment,  to  take  any  description  of  oath  required  of  them. 
Their  room  mates  told  me  they  had  been  takingsome  medicines  to  Virginia, 
and  were  returning  when  arrested.  If  this  be  so,  I  wish  them  better  luck 
next  time.  I  believe  this  is  the  only  instance  in  the  history  of  the  world, 
that  any  nation,  claiming  to  be  civilized,  has  made  medicines  "contra- 
band of  war."  England  tried  it  once,  but  it  created 'such  a  storm  of 
indignation  all  over  Europe,  that  the  ministry  were  compelled  to  rescind 
it.  Sidney  Smith's  celebrated  letters  on  this  subject,  "War  on  the 
Gallipots,''  published  at  the  period  referred  to,  settled  that  matter  forever, 
in  Europe,  and  ought  to  be  re-published  in  this  country  at  this  time.  It 
annoys  me  that  so  foul  a  blot  should  be  in  the  history  of  my  native  country. 


104 

DECEMBER  3.  Very  unwell  to-day,  did  not  go  out  of  my 
room  until  eleven.  Marshal  came-  down  in  the  boat  from 
Boston  with  orders  to  release  Dr.  Lynch,  on  condition  of 
his  taking  the  oath  and  resigning  his  seat  in  the  Senate  of 
Maryland ;  and  Dr.  McGill,  on  condition  of  his  taking  the 
oath  ;  both  declined. 

Mayor  Brown  received  a  parole  of  thirty  days  to  visit 
Boston,  with  permission  to  go  anywhere  in  Massachusetts ; 
in  all  probability  some  arrangement  will  be  made  at  the 
expiration  of  that  time  by  which  he  will  not  return,  but 
be  permitted  to  go  home.  Spent  the  evening  in  reading 
and  playing  back-gammon  with  Captain  De  Lagnel,  and 
in  writing  a  long  letter  home  ;  very  cold  to-night,  had  to 
break  the  ice  in  the  pitcher  to  get  a  glass  of  water. 

I  received  a  piece  of  information  to-day,  that  is  worth 
recording.  Mr.  Blair.,  one  of  the  cabinet  at  Washington, 
(if  I  am  rightly  informed,)  has  always  opposed  the  system 
of  arbitrary  arrests,  as  a  matter  of  both  principle  and 
policy — and  more  particularly  has  opposed  the  continued 
incarceration  of  the  Maryland  State  prisoners. 

A  few  days  since,  at  his  instance,  a  cabinet  meeting  was 
held  on  that  subject,  at  which  he  insisted  on  the  uncondi- 
tional release  of  the  Maryland  prisoners,  and  after  a  hard 
struggle  succeeded  in  getting  an  order  passed  for  their 
release ;  on  the  day  following,  a  self-constituted  committee 
of  "Loyal"  men  from  Baltimore,  nearly  all  of  whom 
were  speculating  on  the  Government  in  some  shape  or 
form,  made  their  appearance  in  Washington,  and  presented 
a  sycophantic  address  to  the  President,  craving  for  further 
Government  patronage  for  the  City  of  Baltimore,  and 
telling  the  President,  " Already  has  your  excellency,  by 
removing  from  our  midst  incendiary  politicians,  and  by 
surrounding  our  City  with  a  force  to  repel  invasion,  laid 
the  foundation  of  affection  and  gratitude;  sentiments 
which  may  be  perpetuated  by  affording  to  our  citizens 
work  which  the  Government  requires,  and  which  they  are 
anxious  and  able  to  perform. ' ' 


105 

The  result  was,  that  the  order  for  our  release  was 
immediately  revoked.  Two  or  three  of  the  more  decent 
of  the  party,  when  they  discovered  the  damage  they  had 
done,  insisted  that  they  never  read  the  address  and  knew 
nothing  of  its  contents  until  they  heard  it  read  to  the 
President,  notwithstanding  their  names  were  signed  to  it ; 
one  of  them,  who  felt  particularly  sore  about  it,  went  so 
far  as  to  publish  a  card  to  that  effect. 

DECEMBER  4.  Mr.  Brown  left  us  to-day  on  his  visit  to 
Boston;  occupied  the  morning  in  collecting  the  mess  dues 
for  the  week,  and  undertook  a  new  duty,  hitherto  per- 
formed by  Mr.  Brown,  that  of  receiving  all  the  liquors  that 
came  into  the  Fort  and  distributing  a  bottle  daily  to  each 
room ;  this  is  a  regulation  by  Colonel  Dimick  to  prevent 
excesses  ;  there  is  some  discretion  allowed,  and  the  wines 
intended  for  the  mess  table  are  not  interfered  with ;  being 
considered  discreet ! !  enough  by  the  Colonel  to  take  charge 
of  this  important  position,  I  am  permitted  to  use  my  own 
judgment  in  going  beyond  the  daily  allowance,  and  the 
probability  is  I  shall  have  a  quarrel  on  my  hands  before 
long  with  some  thirsty  people  who  cannot  see  why  any  dis- 
tinction is  made,  when  they  buy  and  pay  for  their  own 
liquor. 

Captain  De  Lagnel  is  quite  sick  to-day  with  the  mumps, 
a  disease  that  is  spreading  among  the  prisoners. 

Letters  from  home,  pleasant  and  cheerful ;  they  expect 
me  soon. 

DECEMBER  5.  Nothing  of  interest  to-day  ;  weather  plea- 
sant and  suitable  for  out-door  exercise.  Commodore  Bar- 
ron  has  given  his  bed  in  my  little  room  to  Captain  De 
Lagnel  temporarily  during  his  sickness,  which  keeps  me 
out  of  the  apartment  for  fear  of  disturbing  him. 

DECEMBER  6.     Great  commotion  among  the  North  Caro- 
lina people  to-day  :  two  hundred  and  fifty  of  them  are  to 
be  sent  home  for  exchange  :   Colonel  Dimick  hae  orders  to 
6 


106 

select  for  that  purpose,  first  the  sick,  and  then  the  married  ; 
how  far,  in  an  exchange  of  prisoners,  it  is  proper  to  pick 
out  those  classes  in  return  for  sound  people  I  do  not  know  ; 
one  of  their  officers  informed  me  to-day  that  three  hundred 
of  them  were  suddenly  taken  sick  on  receiving  the  news  : 
poor  fellows !  I  have  no  doubt  they  are  anxious  to  get  home, 
for  they  have  had  a  hard  time  of  it. 

Four  new  prisoners  came  in  to-day — Messrs.  Myers,  For- 
rest, Debree  and  Grlassell,  all  Lieutenants  in  the  Navy, 
just  returned  from  a  three  years'  absence  in  the  East  Indies, 
knowing  nothing  of  the  state  of  affairs  here,  and  immedi- 
ately sent  to  Fort  Warren  because  they  were  Southerners, 
and  refused  to  fight  their  own  people  ;  one  of  them,  Lieuten- 
ant Myers,  had  his  wife  and  children  awaiting  his  arrival 
in  New  York,  but  was  refused  to  see  them ;  this  appears  to 
me  to  be  the  most  brutal  of  all  the  arrests  :  two  of  them, 
Myers  and  Grlassell,  were  quartered  in  my  room. 

After  going  to  bed  to-night,  Captain  De  Lagnel,  who 
could  not  get  to  sleep,  gave  me  an  account  of  his  defeat 
and  subsequent  capture  :*  he  was  attached  to  a  small  army 
in  Western  Virginia  under  General  G-arnett,  in  the  regi- 
ment commanded  by  Colonel  Pegram  ;  which  regiment  was 
detailed  to  cover  the  retreat  of  the  main  body  ;  with  but 
seven  hundred  men,  they  kept  five  regiments  at  bay  for  an 
entire  day,  long  enough  to  effect  the  safety  of  the  larger 
body,  but  were  finally  overpowered  and  captured ;  De  Lagnel 
was  badly  wounded,  a  ball  passing  entirely  through  his 
side;  he  told  me  that  when  the  rout  commenced,  fearing 
he  would  be  trampled  to  death  by  the  advancing  columns, 

*  The  reader  will  doubtjess  remember  the  celebrated  Napoleonic  pro- 
clamations of  General  McClellan  after  the  battle  of  Rich  Mountain — 
11  Soldiers  you  have  vanquished  two  armies."  The  two  armies,  according 
to  Colonel  Pegram's  account,  consisted  of  2,200  men  under  General  Gar- 
land and  700  under  Colonel  Pegram ;  they  were  hemmed  in  the  mountains 
and  out  of  food— the  latter  were  captured,  the  former  escaped  with  a  loss 
of  30  men. 

In  the  printed  evidence  now  before  me,  taken  before  some  military  com- 
mittee in  Washington,  it  appears  that  General  McClellan' s  army  (by  his 
own  admission)  amounted  to  35,000  men. 


107 

he  crawled  to  the  road  side  and  hid  in  some  bushes,  still 
where  he  could  see  what  was  going  on  ;  the  first  body  that 
came  up  was  an  Indiana  regiment,  who  paused  only  long 
enough  to  run  their  bayonets  through  every  wounded  man  on 
the  field  who  showed  the  least  signs  of  life,  and  then  passed 
on  ;  when  night  came  he  managed  to  reach  a  house  in  the 
neighborhood,  occupied  by  a  widow  woman  who  had  several 
sons ;  fortunately  they  were  Southern  in  their  feelings,  and 
took  him  in,  keeping  him  concealed  in  the  house  for  over  a 
month,  notwithstanding  the  house  was  searched  several 
times,  some  suspicion  having  attached  to  the  family ; 
finally,  having  recovered  sufficiently  to  be  able  to  walk, 
and  fearful  of  compromising  the  family  by  remaining 
longer  with  them,  he  determined  to  try  and  make  his  way 
to  the  Eastern  part  of  Virginia  ;  taking  with  him  a  small 
wallet  of  provisions  kindly  furnished  by  the  old  lady,  he 
departed,  but  lost  his  way  in  the  mountains,  and  after  suf- 
fering much  hardship  for  want  of  food  and  shelter,  was  on 
the  sixth  day  captured  by  the  picket  guards  of  McClellan's 
army  ;  on  being  questioned  by  his  captors,  he  represented 
himself  to  be  a  cattle  driver,  and  had  been  in  the  moun- 
tains searching  for  lost  cattle  :  they  were  about  releasing 
him,  when  one  of  the  soldiers,  an  Irishman,  exclaimed, 
"Be  Jasus,  he's  no  cattle  driver,  look  at  them  boots, 
they  did  not  cost  less  than  ten  dollars!"  the  soles  were 
gone,  but  the  patent  leather  tops  betrayed  him,  and 
they  took  him  into  the  camp.  Fearing  his  personal  safety, 
until  he  could  meet  with  some  officer  of  rank,  to  whom 
he  could  make  himself  known,  he  repeated  the  same 
story  to  the  Captain  of  the  Guard,  who  immediately  replied, 
"It  is  useless,  sir,  for  you  to  tell  that  story,  cattle  drivers 
do  not  speak  the  pure  English  that  you  do  :  who  are  you?" 
' '  Then  I  am  Captain  De  Lagnel  of  the  Confederate  Army. ' ' 
The  officer  replied,  "I  am  glad  to  see  you,  and  that  you 
have  avowed  yourself;  first  j  because  we  have  been  search- 
ing for  you  a  long  time,  knowing  you  were  concealed  some- 
where in  the  neighborhood  ;  and  secondly,  that  you  may 
receive  the  treatment  due  to  your  position  ;"  he  was  taken 


108 

the  next  day  to  General  McClellan's  head  quarters,  who 
placed  him  under  his  parole,  when  entirely  recovered  from 
his  wound,  to  report  himself  to  Colonel  Burke,  at  Fort 
LaFayette ;  he  then  went  to  Bedford  Springs,  and  remained 
until  entirely  well,  when  he  repaired  to  Fort  LaFayette  and 
surrendered  himself,  and  after  heing  kept  there  for  several 
weeks,  was  transferred  to  Fort  Columbus,  and  finally  to 
Fort  Warren;  a  few  days  ago  he  received  the  likeness  of 
his  wife,  and  his  Bible,  which  McClellan  recovered  from 
the  soldiers  who  rifled  his  trunk  after  the  battle;  he 
appears  to  be  a  favorite  of  General  McClellan,  and  especially 
so  of  Colonel  Dimick,  who  frequently  calls  in  to  see  him, — 
some  negotiations  are  going  on  for  his  exchange  with  a 
Captain  Ricketts,  now  a  prisoner  in  Eichmond,  and  he 
feels  very  anxious  lest  he  may  not  get  well  before  the 
order  for  his  release  reaches  here  and  so  detain  him. 

I  was  much  amused  last  evening  at  a  conversation  I 
accidentally  overheard,  between  some  of  the  garrison 
officers.  I  had  gone  to  the  front  door  to  enjoy  the  fresh 
air,  the  rooms  being  over  heated ;  a  group  of  officers  were 
standing  a  few  feet  from  the  door  conversing  on  the  subject 
of  exchanges.  Negotiations  were  then  going  on  for  the 
exchange  of  Colonel  Pegram  and  Captain  DeLagnel,  for 
officers  of  similar  rank,  then  prisoners  in  Richmond.  One 
of  the  officers  remarked,  that  it  was  a  piece  of  d — d  non- 
sense in  the  United  States  Government  to  exchange  such 
men  as  Pegram  and  DeLagnel  for  anybody  they  had  in- 
Richmond.* 

DECEMBER  Y.  Beautiful  spring-like  day  ;  wonderful  cli- 
mate this.  Spent  most  of  the  day  out  of  doors  walking 
and  chatting  with  every  body  ;  De  Lagnel  still  sick,  and 
getting  worse,  which  keeps  me  out  of  my  room.  No  Bal- 
timore papers  received  now  for  three  days;  can't  account 

*jANrARY,  1862.  Perhaps  he  was  right,  for  Pegram  is  now  a  Brigadier 
General,  and  commanded  the  cavalry  that  so  annoyed  the  rear  of  Rosen- 
crans'  army  at  the  battle  of  Murfreesboro',  and  DeLagnel  has  an  important 
command  in  North  Carolina. 


109 

for  this,  unless  our  masters  have  stopped  them,  thinking 
we  are  learning  too  much  of  the  world  outside. 

Mr.  Grady,  one  of  the  old  police  officers  from  Baltimore, 
discharged  to  day,  got  up  a  subscription  of  twelve  dollars 
to  send  him  home  ;  the  Government  don't  undertake  to 
send  to  their  homes  those  who  are  discharged,  and  Grady 
did  not  happen  to  have  a  cent  in  his  pocket ;  the  most  the 
Government  will  do  is  to  take  the  discharged  prisoner  to 
Boston  and  land  him  on  the  wharf.  Spent  the  evening  in 
Mason  and  Slidell's  room  ;  had  another  dish  of  Interna- 
tional Law ;  went  to  bed  late.  We  are  now  allowed  to 
burn  our  lights  until  eleven,  and  the  guards  rarely  inter- 
fere if  we  burn  them  later  ;  my  room  mate  very  restless, 
and  imagines  he  will  have  a  tedious  illness. 

DECEMBERS. — Sunday.  Another  spring-like  day;  ser- 
vice as  usual  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  North  ;  the  Colonel  and  most 
of  the  Garrison  officers  present ;  my  room  mate  still  very 
sick,  which  keeps  me  much  out  of  my  room  as  he  requires 
quiet ;  read  until  eleven  and  went  to  bed. 

DECEMBER  9.  Weather  still  more  mild,  resembling  a 
June  day  at  home ;  received  all  the  missing  papers  to-day, 
so  our  mail  matter  was  not  stopped  as  we  feared.  Mr. 
Charles  J.  Faulkner  left  us  to-day _,  to  go  to  Richmond  and 
return  in  thirty  days,  unless  he  can  get  himself  exchanged 
for  Mr.  Ely,*  the  Congressman  who  went  to  Bull  Run  to  see 
the  fun,  and  was  captured. f 

Faulkner's  arrest  was  one  of  the  most  outrageous  ever 
perpetrated.  He  was  Minister  to  France,  and  when  super- 

*Mr.  Ely,  on  his  return  home,  published  quite  an  interesting  book  on 
his  capture  and  prison  life  in  Virginia.  In  it,  he  refers  to  the  numerous 
bogus  letters  which  were  published  in  the  Northern  Journals,  purporting 
to  come  from  Federal  prisoners  in  Eichmond,  detailing  their  sufferings 
and  horrible  treatment,  and  has  the  candor  to  express  his  regret  that  the 
Northern  papers  deemed  it  necessary  to  keep  up  the  military  ardor  of  their 
people  by  the  manufacture  of  such  ridiculous  and  untruthful  stories. 

f  JANUARY,  1862.  Faulkner  succeeded  in  making  the  exchange  for  Ely, 
and  after  remaining  in  private  life  for  a  year,  recently  joined  the  army  as 
Adjutant  General  of  the  army  under  General  Joseph  E.  Johnston. 


no 

seded  returned  to  the  country.  Went  to  Washington, 
settled  his  accounts  with  the  State  Department,  asked  for 
and  received  a  safe-conduct  to  pass  the  lines  and  return  to 
his  home  in  Virginia ;  while  in  the  act  of  starting  he  was 
arrested  and  confined  in  the  common  jail  in  Washington  ; 
the  remonstrance  of  some  of  his  friends  among  the  foreign 
ministers  caused  his  removal  after  a  week's  confinement  in 
jail  to  a  hetter  prison,  where  he  was  kept  a  month,  and 
then  sent  to  Fort  LaFayette. 

He  wrote  to  Seward,  who  had  in  person  furnished  him 
with  the  safe-conduct,  complaining  of  the  outrage  ;  Seward 
replied  he  had  nothing  to  do  with  it,  that  Cameron  had 
him  arrested  ;  on  applying  to  Cameron  to  know  the  cause, 
he  replied  that  he  had  him  arrested  as  a  hostage  for  Mr. 
Magraw  who  was  sent  to  Virginia  to  look  for  the  body  of 
Cameron's  brother,  who  was  killed  at  Manassas,  and  had 
been  captured  by  the  Confederates  and  taken  to  Richmond. 

Faulkner  wrote  to  Richmond  and  obtained  the  release  of 
Magraw,  expecting  his  own  discharge  immediately  to  fol- 
low ;  he  was  then  informed  that  he  was  no  longer  a  pris- 
oner of  Cameron  but  a  prisoner  of  State,  or  rather  of  Sew- 
ard, and  would  be  held  for  State  reasons;  but  as  the 
Republican  party  are  very  anxious  to  get  back  Mr.  Ely, 
who  is  one  of  their  big  guns,  the  arrangement  has  been 
made  for  Mr.  Faulkner  to  go  to  Richmond. 

This  is  the  first  instance,  since  the  safe-conduct  given  to 
John  Huss,  by  the  Emperor  Sigismund,  now  nearly  five 
hundred  years  ago,  that  a  safe-conduct,  regarded  as  the 
most  sacred  of  all  pledges,  has  ever  been  violated  by  any 
civilized  nation  ;  perhaps  the  excuse  was,  in  principle,  the 
same  in  both  cases  ;  in  the  loose  theology  of  that  day,  the 
emperor  was  advised  by  the  clergy  that  he  was  not  bound 
to  keep  faith  with  heretics  :  and  the  Government  doubtless 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  they  were  not  bound  to  keep 
faith  with  rebels. 

Faulkner  certainly  expects  to  be  successful  in  his  mis- 
sion, for  he  has  distributed  his  stores  and  personal  effects 
among  his  friends. 


Ill 

The  Colonel  gave  permission  to  the  prisoners  to-day  to 
use  the  parade  ground  to  play  foot  ball,  and  for  some  hours 
it  was  a  pleasant  and  exciting  scene  ;  they  went  at  it  like 
boys,  in  fact  I  kicked  the  ball  a  few  times  myself — after 
we  had  finished,  the  Hatteras  privates  took  their  turn  at  it. 
Keceived  letters  from  home  ;  wife  very  much  distressed  at 
my  continued  absence  ;  De  Lagnel  still  very  sick,  and  my 
next  neighbor  in  the  adjoining  room  very  ill :  could  hear 
his  groans  all  night ;  spent  the  evening  in  making  up  my 
mess  accounts  and  writing  home  ;  at  supper,  in  Mason  and 
Slidell's  room,  had  a  nice  dish  of  Maryland  terrapins. 
Durrett,  of  Kentucky,  left  us  to-day,  took  the  oath,  and 
was  consequently  well  searched. 

DECEMBER  10.  Heavy  fog  this  morning,  which  cleared 
away  by  ten  o'clock,  giving  us  another  beautiful  day,  which 
the  North  Carolina  people  availed  of  for  another  game  of 
foot-ball. 

At  twelve,  the  boat  from  Boston  brought  down  Major 
General  B.  F.  Butler  and  his  staff  on  a  visit  of  inspection 
to  the  Fort :  first  time  I  have  seen  the  General  since  the 
memorable  day  he  dined  at  the  Gilmor  House  in  Baltimore, 
and  subsequently  found  so  much  difficulty  in  mounting  his 
horse :  looked  as  natural  as  he  did  then,  except  that  the 
cigar,  at  an  angle  of  forty-five  degrees,  was  not  in  his 
mouth,  and  his  locomotion  was  steadier  ;  made  a  show  of 
generosity  by  bringing  to  Major  Andrews  his  letter-book 
and  papers  that  were  taken  from  him  at  his  capture  at  Fort 
Hatteras. 

When  Mayor  Brown  went  to  Boston  last  week,  he  very 
naturally  stopped  at  the  house  of  his  brother-in-law,  re- 
siding in  that  city.  The  Boston  papers  of  this  morning 
contain  a  number  of  scurrilous  articles  abusing  his  brother- 
in-law  for  "harboring  a  traitor!"*  It  is  really  painful 

*  MAYOR  BROWN — A  REMARKABLE  ADMISSION  BY  MR.  SEWARD. — A  most 
vulgar  and  shameful  attack  is  made  in  the  Evening  Transcript  of  yester- 
day, upon  one  of  our  most  estimable  and  inoffensive  citizens.  It  comes 
under  the  head  of  "sneaks  and  cowards."  It  seems  that  Mayor  Brown, 


112 

to  read  the  Boston  newspapers,  the  press  of  the  "  Athens  of 
America,"  and  see  the  diligence  with  which  they  labor  to 
stir  up  the  basest  passions  of  tiie  multitude  into  a  hatred 
of  every  thing  South  or  Southern,  stopping  at  no  lie,  how- 
ever glaring,  that  will  answer  their  purpose  with  the 
ignorant;  their  venom  appears  particularly  directed  to- 
wards us ;  scarcely  a  day  passes  but  they  have  some  bogus 
letter  or  information  from  Fort  Warren,  with  which  to 
regale  and  delight  their  readers.  We  are  styled  "  The 
Eebels  at  Fort  Warren  ;"  "The  Traitors  at  Fort  Warren ;" 
"The  Miserable  Wretches  at  Fort  Warren;"  "The 
Deluded  Wretches  at  Fort  Warren;"  "The  Wretched 
Creatures  at  Fort  Warren  ;"  "  The  Political  Scoundrels  at 
Fort  Warren,"  and  worse  than  all,  the  most  disparaging 
accounts  are  given  of  our  personal  appearance.  We  were 
under  the  impression  that,  on  the  whole,  we  were  tolerably 
good  looking,  and  well  dressed,  but  they  represent  us  as 
having  villianous  countenances,  unshaven,  dirty,  and  rag- 
ged ;  of  weak,  puny  frames  and  small  statue,  in  striking 
contrast  with  the  stalwart  sons  of  the  North,  and  about  an 

of  Baltimore,  is  out  of  Fort  Warren  on  parole,  not  to  leave  the  State. 
Naturally  enough,  he  repairs  to  the  house  of  the  citizen  aforesaid,  that 
house  being  the  dwelling  of  his  own  sister,  who  is  the  wife  of  the  citizen 
in  question.  This  is  called  by  the  Transcript  "harboring  a  traitor."  Of 
course,  on  this  theory,  the  Government  are  "sneaks  and  traitors,"  for  let- 
ting Mayor  Brown  be  at  large. 

The  gentleman  who  has  thus,  according  to  the  Transcript,  been  guilty 
of  "harboring  a  traitor,"  is  a  physician  highly  respected  in  hisprofession. 
and  so  well  known  for  charitable  deeds,  that  one  can  hardly  conceive  of 
the  malignant  spirit  which  could  prompt  such  an  attack  upon  him.  It  can 
only  be  characterized  as  the  basest  sort  of  prying  into  the  privacy  of 
domestic  life,  and  a  gross  assault  upon  all  the  sympathies  and  affections  of 
human  nature. 

We  have  heard  by  the  way,  that  a  deputation  of  respectable  and  loyal 
Baltimore  people  waited  on  the  Secretary,  in  regard  to  Mayor  Brown,  to 
learn  why  he  was  confined.  It  was  asked — "Has  Mr.  Brown  been  guilty 
of  any  treason?"  The  answer  was  "None,  that  I  know  of."  "Do  you 
suspect  him  of  disloyalty  ?"  "I  have  no  reason  to  do  so."  "Then,  pray, 
why  do  you  imprison  him  ?"  "Because  he  happens  to  be  an  obstacle  in 
our  way."  We  give  the  statement  as  we  heard  it;  and  his  release  on 
parole,  to  remain  in  Massachusetts,  seems  to  confirm  the  story. — Boston 
Courier,  Dec.  10. 


113 

average  specimen  of  Southern  physical  imbecility,  and 
with  the  exception  of  a  few  desperate  characters,  exceed- 
ingly penitent,  and  imploring  the  Government  for  pardon 
and  forgiveness  for  having  wickedly  rebelled  against  the 
best  government  on  earth  ;  all  of  which  is  doubtless  duly 
believed  by  nine-tenths  of  the  people  of  New  England.* 

Quite  an  entertaining  newspaper  political  fight  is  now 
going  on  in  Boston;  the  municipal  election  is  at  hand, 
and  the  present  Mayor  desires  a  re-election.  On  the 
arrival  of  the  prisoners  at  Fort  Warren,  when  the  fact 
was  made  known  in  Boston  that  a  large  number  were  sick, 
and  there  was  no  hospital  arrangement  at  the  Fort,  no 
beds  for  the  sick,  and  no  medicines,  the  Mayor  took  the 
responsibility,  aided  by  some  charitable  people  there,  of 
furnishing  the  hospital ;  the  papers  opposed  to  his  re-elec- 
tion are  now  fiercely  denouncing  him  as  a  "sympathizer 
with  the  rebels,"  and  his  friends  are  defending  him,  some 
on  the  ground  of  humanity,  and  some,  that  what  he  did 
was  so  little  as  not  to  justify  his  condemnation  ;  as  I  have 
no  interest  in  the  quarrel,  I  don't  care  what  the  result  is ; 
I  merely  mention  it  as  a  specimen  of  Bostonianism. 

DECEMBER  11.  Rain  all  day,  preventing  out  door  exercise; 
occupied  the  morning  in  collecting  the  mess  dues  for  the 
week,  in  reading  and  playing  single  handed  euchre  with 
Governor  Morehead,  and  back-gammon  with  Colonel  Pe- 
grarn  ;  in  the  evening  played  a  few  games  of  whist  with 
Mason,  Slidell  and  Gatchell ;  found  they  were  too  scientific 
for  me,  and  as  they  were  not  disposed  to  be  at  all  compli- 
mentary in  their  comments  on  my  skill  as  a  player,  gave 

*  Scarcely  a  day  passed  that  the  mail  did  not  bring  numbers  of  anony- 
mous letters  to  Colonel  Dirnick,  denouncing  him  as  a  traitor  for  his 
humane  treatment  of  the  prisoners  in  his  charge,  and  threatening  him 
with  all  sorts  of  vengeance.  The  Colonel  quietly  put  them  into  the  fire 
as  fast  as  opened ;  as  time  wore  on,  a  change  took  place,  and  the  Bostoii 
people  gradually  learned  to  speak  of  the  Colonel,  and  even  of  the  prison- 
ers, with  some  respect ;  while  the  fever  was  at  its  height,  Gov.  Andrews 
felt  impelled  to  announce  publicly  in  Boston  "that  Tie  regarded  Benedict 
Arnold  a  saint  when  compared  with  the  Fort  Warren  rebels." 


114 

my  place  to  Eustis,  while  I  took  a  game  at  back-gammon 
with  McFarland.  Slidell  suggested  that  I  was  better 
skilled  in  brewing  punch  than  playing  whist,  took  the  hint 
and  prepared  it,  while  McFarland  got  out  some  bread  and 
butter,  and  a  couple  of  jars  of  Pate  defois  gras. 

My  temporary  room  mate  recovering  from  his  mumps, 
much  to  my  gratification  ;  in  the  first  place,  a  sick  man  in 
a  room  ten  by  twelve,  is  not  a  desirable  companion, 
however  agreeable  in  other  respects,  and  in  the  second 
place,  mumps  are  said  to  be  catching  ! 

DECEMBER  12.  Another  beautiful  day,  intensely  cold  in 
the  morning,  but  moderating  towards  noon,  the  ball 
players  enjoyed  it  very  much  ;  another  prisoner  released 
to-day,  Sommers,  of  Baltimore.  One  of  my  room  mates, 
George  Appleton,  put  in  the  guard  house  for  impudence 
to  one  of  the  garrison  officers  ;  after  remaining  there  a 
few  hours,  at  the  instance  of  Commodore  Barron  and 
Colonel  Pegram,  the  Colonel  released  him,  but  ordered 
him  to  remain  a  close  prisoner  in  his  own  room.  We  all 
tell  George  he  has  done  wrong,  and  advise  him  to  go  to 
the  officer  and  make  an  apology,  but  boy  like,  he  is  stub- 
born, and  refuses ;  two  or  three  days  will  bring  him  to  his 
senses.  I  cannot  conceive  why  the  Government  keeps  him 
here,  a  mere  child,  utterly  incapable  of  doing  them  any 
harm. 

DECEMBER  13.  Very  dull  day.  spent  most  of  it  in  the 
unprofitable  labor  of  endeavoring  to  unravel  some  Chinese 
puzzles,  brought  home  by  the  naval  officers  from  the  East 
Indies,  and  in  looking  over  several  hundred  stereoscopic 
views  from  China  and  Japan,  some  of  them  different  from 
any  I  had  ever  seen,  the  same  picture  representing, 
according  to  the  light  thrown  on  them,  scenes  by  day  and 
by  night ;  these  gentlemen  have  brought  with  them  a 
large  quantity  of  Chinese  and  Japanese  articles,  the 
examination  of  which  serves  to  while  away  the  time. 

Spent  the  evening  in  my  room,  reading,  writing  and 


115 

chatting  with  De  Lagnel,  who  is  much  better,  and  such 
visitors  as  dropped  in. 

DECEMBER  14.  Took  a  walk  this  morning  round  the 
ramparts  in  company  with  twelve  or  fifteen  of  the  political 
•prisoners,  by  special  invitation  from  two  of  the  officers  of 
the  Garrison,  who  went  with  us. 

The  scene  was  a  beautiful  one,  Boston  in  the  distance, 
the  harbor  studded  with  small  islands,  and  the  ocean  in 
front ;  the  day  clear  and  bracing  ;  perhaps  it  looked  more 
pleasing  from  the  fact  that  for  forty-five  days  I  have  seen 
nothing  but  the  parade  ground,  the  stone  walls  that  enclose 
it,  and  the  sky  above. 

Keceived  very  pleasant  letters  from  home,  also  from 
Ward  and  Matilda,  the  latter  enclosing  some  of  her  patri- 
otic poetry,  and  the  former  giving  a  very  gloomy  picture 
of  affairs  in  Baltimore.  W.  thinks  that  apart  from  my 
absence  from  my  family  and  my  accustomed  ways,  I  am 
losing  nothing  by  being  here.  Wrote  to  E.  declining  to 
accept  any  release  encumbered  with  conditions,  which  I 
suppose  will  keep  me  here ;  spent  the  evening  as  usual  in 
reading,  writing  and  visiting  ;  ate  a  few  oysters  in  No.  7 
and  some  boned  turkey  and  champaigne  in  No.  11,  and 
dropped  in  at  Mason  and  Slidell's  to  finish  off  with  a  good 
Habana. 

Captain  De  Lagnel  left  us  to-day,  having  been  exchanged 
for  a  Captain  Kicketts  ;  the  news  of  his  exchange  almost 
made  a  well  man  of  him  ;  hope  I  shall  meet  him  again ;  he 
is  one  of  the  finest  specimens  of  humanity  I  have  ever  met 
with. 

DECEMBER  15.  Another  beautiful  day,  cold  but  clear,  and 
bracing  ;  church  service  as  usual  by  Mr.  North  ;  spent  the 
afternoon  in  reading  the  English  papers  and  their  com- 
ments on  the  capture  of  Mason  and  Slidell :  looks  very 
warlike.  Spent  the  evening  in  getting  up  my  correspond- 
ence which  was  falling  behind. 


116 

DECEMBER  16.  Cold  and  stormy,  so  much  so,  that  the 
boat  could  not  land  at  the  wharf  to-day,  and  had  to  go 
back  with  our  letters,  papers,  and  to-morrow's  breakfast 
and  dinner  ;  the  occasional  missing  of  the  mail  and  o»r 
bundles  of  newspapers,  is  regarded  as  a  calamity,  the  lat- 
ter gives  us  employment  from  twelve  until  two,  and  we 
look  for  it  as  regularly  and  with  more  impatience  than  we 
do  for  our  dinner  ;  after  reading  the  papers,  their  contents 
afford  us  subjects  for  discussion  and  conversation  the  balance 
of  the  day  ;  for  want  of  other  matters  to  discourse  on,  the 
subject  of  International  Law  was  resumed,  much  to  my 
annoyance.  The  two  hundred  and  fifty  Hatteras  prisoners 
who  have  been  exchanged,  were  to  have  left  to-day,  but 
the  storm  prevented  it. 

DECEMBER  17.  Storm  passed  away,  and  at  twelve  o'clock 
the  Hatteras  prisoners  embarked  for  their  homes  :  one  of 
my  room  mates,  Colonel  Bradford,  a  very  estimable  gentle- 
man, going  with  them;  as  they  were  passing  out  of  the 
sally-port,  one  of  them  stepped  out  of  the  ranks  and  told 
Colonel  Dimick  that  should  they  ever  take  him  prisoner, 
they  would  take  good  care  of  him. 

The  Colonel  very  kindly  took  all  the  remaining  North 
Carolina  privates  on  the  ramparts  to  witness  the  departure  : 
he  is  a  good  old  man  ;  lost  two  of  our  room  mates,  whose 
places  were  immediately  filled  with  three  others,  making 
our  quarters  more  crowded  than  ever. 

The  news  from  England  has  created  great  commotion 
among  the  prisoners  :  from  present  appearances  we  shall 
have  war  with  England,  for  I  cannot  see  how  Mr.  Seward 
can  possibly  back  down,  query?  How  will  it  affect  the 
chances  of  our  release  ?  badly  I  fear.  Mr.  Mason  insists, 
that  the  Government  at  Washington,  notwithstanding  the 
approval  of  the  Secretary  of  the  Navy  and  the  President, 
and  the  vote  of  thanks  by  Congress  to  Captain  Wilkes, 
will  surrender  them  and  make  any  apology  England  may 
require.  Spent  the  evening  in  my  bed  room,  reading  the 
papers  to  Commodore  Barron,  who  is  sick,  and  in  supping 
round,  oysters,  terrapins,  hot  whiskey  punch,  &c.,  &c. 


117 

DECEMBER  18.  Charles  H.  Pitts  left  this  morning  on  a 
parole  of  thirty  days  to  visit  his  family  ;  the  general 
impression  is,  that  he  will  not  return,  and  for  his  own 
comfort,  I  hope  it  may  prove  so.  I  can  see  no  ohject  in 
sending  him  back,  but  then,  at  the  same  time,  I  can  see 
no  object  in  keeping  any  of  us  here,  so  that  amounts  to 
nothing  ;  passed  the  day  as  usual. 

DECEMBER  19.  Another  warm  and  pleasant  day,  of 
which  the  ball-players  took  advantage ;  one  discharge 
to-day,  Mr.  Cenas,  of  the  Navy,  who  goes  home  to  be 
exchanged  ;  passed  most  of  the  day  in  the  open  air  ;  find 
the  nights  are  getting  long  and  tedious,  dark  at  half-past 
four,  and  to  bed  at  eleven;  six  and  a  half  hours  to  get 
through  with  every  evening,  a  fine  opportunity  to  read,  if 
I  could  settle  my  mind  to  it,  but  the  annoyance  of  being 
here,  my  unprotected  family  at  home,  and  the  uncertainty 
of  the  future,  prevents  anything  like  continued  reading  or 
study.  When  I  think  of  the  outrageous  manner  in  which 
I  have  been  treated,  dragged  from  my  home  at  midnight, 
without  a  moment's  warning  or  preparation  ;  transported 
from  Fort  to  Fort  like  a  felon  ;  of  my  business  affairs 
thrown  into  confusion,  if  not  ruin  ;  of  my  wife  and  six 
daughters  at  home  without  a  protector,  I  lay  down  the 
book  and  do  a  deal  of  inward  swearing.  Mr.  Slidell 
advised  me  the  other  day  to  do  it  outwardly,  expressing 
the  belief  that  it  would  relieve  me,  as  a  flow  of  tears  some- 
times is  a  relief  to  dry  eyes  when  in  distress. 

DECEMBER  20.  Mr.  Kessler,  of  Frederick  County,  late 
member  of  the  Maryland  Legislature,  left  us  to  day  ;  he  has 
been  ready  for  several  weeks  to  take  the  oath,  bnt  somehow 
they  had  not  faith  in  him.  Col.  Kane  returned  to-day  from 
his  three  weeks'  leave  of  absence,  reports  everything  very 
dull  and  gloomy  in  Baltimore,  saw  my  family  and  says  they 
are  all  well.  Durant,  member  of  the  Legislature  from  St. 
Mary's,  offered  the  oath  but  declined  it. 


118 

DECEMBER  21.  Usual  routine  of  exercise,  reading  and 
visiting  the  neighbors ;  spentan  hour  in  Governor  Morehead's 
room  playing  cards,  and  another  in  Wallis'  room  listening 
to  his  reading,  and  Gatchell's  humorous  wit ;  the  latter  is 
the  life  of  the  room,  and  never  loses  his  humor  or  his  temper. 

Played  back-gammon  in  the  evening  with  some  of  the 
naval  officers  and  listened  to  another  discourse  from  Mason 
on  International  Law ;  made  the  whiskey  punch  earlier 
than  usual  with  a  view  of  changing  the  subject,  but  that 
only  brightened  his  ideas,  and  he  went  on. 

DECEMBER  22.  Mr.  North  preached  his  last  sermon  to- 
day, he  has  been  exchanged  and  leaves  for  his  home  in  Vir- 
ginia to-morrow.  Mr.  Brewer,  clerk  of  the  Maryland  Sen- 
ate left  to-day  to  visit  his  family  on  a  parole  of  thirty  days; 
extra  good  dinner  to-day,  to  which  Captain  Berry,  one  of 
the  prisoners,  added  a  basket  of  Champagne. 

DECEMBER  23.  Rain,  hail,  snow  and  slush,  with  a  gale 
of  wind  from  all  points  of  the  compass,  converting  the 
parade  ground  into  a  huge  mud  puddle  which  I  had  to  cross 
twice  during  the  morning.  Mr.  North  left  us  to-day,  hav- 
ing been  exchanged  for  some  regimental  parson  captured  at 
Bull  Run,  we  fitted  him  out  with  a  good  suit  of  clothing, 
and  gave  him  thirty  dollars  out  of  the  mess  fund  to  take 
him  home,  a  small  return  for  his  services  in  the  Chapel  ;  we 
are  now  without  a  minister.* 

The  approach  of  Christmas  is  bringing  to  us  the  kind  re- 
membrances of  friends  from  all  parts  of  the  country,  and 
the  indications  to-day  are  that  we  shall  have  provisions 
enough  to  feed  the  whole  of  the  remaining  five  hundred 
prisoners  during  Christmas  week.  Six  large  boxes  came 
by  the  Boat  to-day,  from  Washington  County,  Md.,  con- 
signed to  Dr.  McGill  and  Mr.  Alvey,f  of  Hagerstown,  with 

*Mr.  North  returned  to  his  home  at  Charlestown,  Va.,  only  to  be  driven 
from  it  in  a  few  weeks  by  the  advance  of  the  Federal  army. 

fMr.  Alvey  was  released  in  February  on  his  parole,  and  returned  to 
his  home  in  Hagerstown,  but  in  April  was  compelled  by  the  mob  to  leave, 
and  took  refuge  in  Canada. 


119 

a  list  of  the  contributors,  one  hundred  and  thirty  in  num- 
ber, turkeys,  hams,  rounds  of  beef,  venison,  tongues,  in 
fact,  everything  to  eat  or  to  drink  that  could  be  thought  of 
by  that  number  of  people. 

The  town  of  "Freedom,"  in  Maine,  sends  two  large 
boxes  filled  with  turkeys,  lobsters,  salmon,  the  sweet  corn 
of  that  country  and  some  very  fine  wines  and  old  brandy ; 
we  had  among  us  for  some  time,  two  gentlemen  from  that 
town,  who  lost  their  "freedom"  for  exercising  freedom  of 
speech;  they  attempted  to  make  speeches  at  a  "Peace" 
meeting,  but  the  meeting  was  broken  up,  and  that  night 
they  were  taken  out  of  their  beds  and  sent  to  Fort  LaFayette, 
where,  and  at  Fort  Warren,  they  had  the  opportunities,  for 
four  months,  of  doing  penance  for  the  sin  of  preferring  Peace 
to  War.  Too  stormy  to  take  exercise  and  had  to  pass  the 
day  within  doors,  listening  to  the  usual  discussions  on 
Mason  and  Slidell  and  the  chances  of  a  war  with  England ; 
Mason  still  persists  there  willjbe  no  war,  and  that  the  Gov- 
ernment will  back  out  from  every  position  they  have  taken, 
others  think  they  have  bullied  and  blustered  so  much,  that 
they  cannot  back  out  without  making  themselves  ridiculous 
in  the  eyes  of  the  whole  world  ;  for  the  last  ten  days  a 
large  force  has  been  engaged  in  mounting  the  barbette  guns 
of  the  Fort,  and  putting  it  generally  in  a  state  of  defence. 

A  nice  mess  of  oysters  cooked  by  Marshal  Kane,  with 
some  Scotch  whiskey-punch,  closes  the  day,  or  rather  the 
night,  and  to  bed  at  eleven. 

DECEMBER  24.  Mr.  John  W.  Davis,  Police  Commissioner 
of  Baltimore,  left  us  to  day  on  a  parole  for  thirty  days ; 
this  system  is  getting  quite  fashionable  ;  nothing  of  interest 
to-day,  except  the  preparations  for  Christmas,  boxes  con- 
tinue to  arrive  from  all  quarters,  with  good  things  for-the 
holidays ;  mutton  and  hams  from  the  Eastern  shore,  can- 
vas-backs, terrapins  and  oysters  from  Baltimore,  turkeys 
and  geese  from  everywhere,  pound  cakes  and  fruit  cakes 
without  end  ;  we  shall  give  the  North  Carolina  privates,  and 
the  moneyless  politicals  of  number  forty-five,  such  a  week's 


120 

feasting  as  will  make  them  "return  to  their  muttons"  of 
salt  pork  and  beans  with  perfect  disgust. 

This  being  Christmas-eve,  the  Colonel  kindly  sent  us 
word  that  we  could  burn  the  lights  as  long  as  we  desired. 

DECEMBER  25.  Christmas  day;  spent  it  pretty  much  as  I 
would  have  done  at  home,  only  on  a  smaller  scale,  visited 
all  the  rooms,  taking  a  glass  of  egg-nog  here  and  of  apple 
toddy  there,  had  the  best  dinner  of  the  season,  but  no  one 
appeared  disposed  to  eat  it,  the  egg-nog  having  supplanted 
the  dinner ;  continued  my  visits  under  special  permit  from 
the  Colonel,  until  eleven,  and  am  sorry  to  record,  went  to 
bed  forgetting  to  wind  up  my  watch. 

We  had  a  rich  scene  this  evening  in  the  underground 
apartments  the  other  side  of  the  sally-port,  in  the  trial  and 
execution  of  Wm.  H.  Seward  for  treason,  in  having  abolished 
the  Constitution  and  the  Laws  and  usurped  the  Government; 
about  fifty  of  the  prisoners  were  present  ard  participated  in 
it ;  a  stuffed  figure  had  been  made,  representing  the  culprit, 
who  was  seated  in  the  criminal  box;  a  judge  was  selected,* 
twelve  jurymen  drawn,  the  prisoner  was  assigned  counsel, 
the  prosecuting  attorney  opened  the  case,  and  the  exami- 
nation of  witnesses  went  on  in  due  form ;  speeches  were 
made  by  counsel  on  both  sides,  and  the  case  given  to  the 
jury,  who  after  some  deliberation  (I  fear  they  were  biassed) 
found  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  guilty;  the  judge,  after  making 
the  usual  preliminary  speech  on  the  enormity  of  his  crimes 
and  the  justness  of  his  condemnation,  pronounced  the  sen- 
tence and  he  was  immediately  executed.  One  of  the  garrison 
officers  was  present,  and  between  the  trial  and  a  bucket  of 
egg-nog  on  the  table  in  the  corner  of  the  room  where  he 

*DEATH  OF  AUSTIN  E.  SMITH. — Major  Austin  E.  Smith,  son  of  Ex-Gov. 
Smith,  of  Virginia,  and  formerly  Navy  Agent  at  San  Francisco,  was  se- 
verely wounded  in  the  battle  before  Richmond  on  the  27th  ult. ,  in  the 
shoulder.  On  the  29th  his  arm  was  amputated,  but  he  survived  the  ope- 
ration but  a  few  hours.  It  will  be  recollected  that  Major  Smith,  on  his 
return  from  California,  was  arrested  on  the  Isthmus,  and  for  some  months 
was  confined  in  Fort  Warren,  Boston  Harbor. — Richmond  Enquirer. 


121 

stood,  seemed  to  enjoy  it  very  much.  I  fear  that  on  awaken- 
ing next  morning,  he  found  his  recollection  of  the  doings 
of  the  previous  night  very  much  impaired. 

DECEMBER  26.  Awoke  with  severe  head-ache,  the  penalty 
of  yesterday's  indulgence,  and  spent  most  of  the  day  in 
bed,  received  letters  from  home,  informing  me  that  Gene- 
ral Dix  had  written  to  Washington  to  procure  a  parole  for 
thirty  days  for  me,  wrote  back  declining  to  accept  it. 

DECEMBER  27.  Very  cold  and  stormy,  out  door  exercise 
impossible,  still  unwell  and  suffering  from  bad  cold,  Mr. 
Salmon,  member  of  the  Legislature  from  Frederick  County 
discharged  to-day,  took  the  oath,  and  Mr.  Oaksmith,  charged 
with  fitting  out  slavers,  but  suspected  of  fitting  out  priva- 
teers, removed  to  New  York  for  trial.* 

DECEMBER  28.  Intense  cold  with  strong  gale  of  wind,  so 
much  so  that  the  boat  from  Boston  could  not  make  the 
landing  and  had  to  return,  consequently  no  letters  or 
papers. 

Without  the  papers  and  with  weather  too  inclement  to 
take  exercise,  the  days  are  very  long  ;  there  are  not  enough 
card  players  iu  the  room  to  make  up  a  party,  and  back- 
gammon has  become  tiresome.  About  ten,  the  officer  who 
was  present  at  the  trial  of  Seward,  came  in  and  helped  me 


*  Oaksmith  was  the  only  prisoner  ever  sent  to  any  of  the  Forts  on  a 
specific  charge  of  an  offence  not  political ;  partly  because  we  did  not  de- 
sire the  company  of  a  slave  trader,  and  partly  because  we  suspected  him 
of  being  a  spy,  (he  having  been  at  the  last  election  in  New  York  a  prom- 
inent and  active  member  of  the  Black  Republican  party,)  although  either 
would  have  been  sufficient,  we  declined  to  admit  him  into  our  mess. 

He  was  a  man  of  fine  personal  appearance,  intelligent  and  polished  in 
his  manners,  and  took  our  refusal  very  hard,  in  a  few  days  he  took  a  seat 
at  the  mess-table  uninvited,  and  no  notice  was  taken  of  it. 

He  was  removed  to  the  jail  in  New  York  city,  and  during  the  Spring, 
tried  and  convicted  for  being  engaged  in  the  slave  trade,  and  sent  to  the 
Penitentiary  for  five  years,  from  which  he  soon  made  his  escape,  and 
finally  turned  up  in  Havana. 


122 

to  drink  a  bottle  of  whiskey,  that  is,  he  drank  seven-eighths, 
and  I  the  other  eighth. 

DECEMBER  29.  Very  cold,  thermometer  some  distance  be- 
low zero — our  chaplain  having  left  us,  we  did  not  expect  a 
sermon,  but  on  going  to  the  chapel  this  morning,  whom 
should  I  find  reading  the  service,  but  the  officer  who  drank 
my  whiskey  last  night ;  he  had  a  full  clear  voice  and  read 
it  better  than  nine-tenths  of  the  clergymen  I  have  heard  ; 
after  service  Colonel  Dimick  informed  me  that  he  had  re- 
ceived orders  from  Washington  to  permit  me  to  go  home 
for  thirty  days,  told  him  I  would  decide  in  a  day  or  two 
what  I  would  do,  spent  the  evening  in  writing  and  reading 
in  my  little  room. 

DECEMBER  30.  Cold  and  raw ;  spent  most  of  the  day  in  my 
room,  preparing  to  leave,  having  determined  to  accept  the 
proffered  parole  after  much  consideration  over  it.  My  affairs 
at  home  are  getting  into  a  confused  state,  and  my  wife  fret- 
ting very  much  at  my  absence,  and  now  sick  in  bed. — 
Most  of  my  friends  approve  of  my  going.  Some  object  to  it, 
thinking  that  in  so  doing  I  recognize  the  right  of  the  Gov- 
ernment to  keep  me  a  prisoner.  I  do  not  think  so,  as  I  en- 
ter into  no  obligation  except  to  return  in  thirty  days.  Ma- 
son and  Slidell  are  also  preparing  to  leave,  having  received 
official  notice  of  their  intended  surrender. 

DECEMBER  31.  Another  cold  and  raw  day,  preventing 
out-door  exercise — spent  most  of  the  day  in  my  bed-room 
reading  and  writing  ;  got  up  a  game  of  cards  in  the  evening, 
the  first  in  our  room  since  I  have  been  here.  Col.  Dimick 
sent  word  in  the  evening,  that  as  it  was  New  Year's  Eve, 
we  could  burn  the  lights  at  pleasure.  Determined  to  show 
our  appreciation  of  his  kindness  by  brewing  a  second  pitcher 
of  Punch,  and  finally  a  third  one,  and  as  the  Commodore 
did  not  drink  Whiskey  Punch,  but  was  partial  to  Rum- 
Milk  Punch,  I  sent  to  the  mess  room  for  a  gallon  can  of 
cream  that  was  left  over  from  our  Christmas  keeping,  and 


123 

with  the  aid  of  a  bottle  of  very  old  rum,  presented  me  by 
Mr.  Harrison,  very  soon  concocted  a  beverage,  that  if  not 
fit  for  the  gods,  was  certainly  appreciated  by  the  Commo- 
dore, colonels,  and  prisoners  of  State ;  it  was  the  most 
delicious  thing  I  ever  tasted,  rich  cream,  rum 'forty  years 
old,  a  little  sugar  and  nutmeg,  with  a  few  drops  of  orange 
juice  ;  I  give  the  receipt  for  the  benefit  of  posterity. 

We  had  numerous  visitors  during  the  evening,  and  about 
mid-night,  Lieutenant  Moore,  of  North  Carolina,  who  occu- 
pied the  room  immediately  under  us,  made  a  call,  (the 
smell  of  good  things  will  sometimes  descend  as  well  as 
ascend,)  the  ostensible  object  of  his  visit  was  to  give  Mr. 
Mason  a  copy  of  some  very  clever  verses,  set  to  the  tune  of 
"  Dixie,"  his  own  composition,  which  Mr.  Mason  had  heard 
him  sing  a  night  or  two  previous,  (Moore  has  a  fine  voice) 
and  of  which  Mason  had  specially  requested  a  copy.  Mr. 
Mason  took  the  song,  and  putting  on  his  specs,  carefully 
read  aloud  each  verse,  commenting  as  he  went  along,  and 
pronounced  the  whole  a  capital  good  thing  ;  folding  it  up  and 
putting  it  in  the  side  pocket  of  his  coat,  he  went  on  to  say, 
that  he  intended  on  his  arrival  in  London,  to  have  it  set  to 
music  and  sung  in  the  theatres,  printed  and  distributed 
among  the  ballad  singers  on  the  streets,  played  by  'the 
organ  grinders,  in  fact  he  intended  to  make  an  "  institution" 
of  it ;  after  singing  a  song  or  two,  Mr.  Moore  retired  and 
we  went  to  bed. 

JANUARY  1.  After  breakfast  this  morning,  while  Mason 
and  Slidell  were  in  our  room,  their  own  being  cleaned  up, 
a  tap  at  the  door,  and  Lieutenant  Moore  came  in.  "I  am 
glad  to  see  you  Mr.  Moore,"  said  Mason,  "I  do  not  know  at 
what  moment  we  may  leave  here,  and  I  want  you  to  give 
me  a  copy  of  the  song  I  asked  you  for  a  few  days  since;" 
"why  Mr.  Mason,"  said  Moore,  "  I  gave  it  to  you  last 
night ;"  "  you  did  nothing  of  the  kind,"  said  Mason  ;  "I 
did;"  replied  Moore,  "and  Mr.  S.,  who  was  present,  will 
doubtless  remember  it."  "Mr.  Mason,"  said  S.,  "Mr. 
Moore  came  in  last  night  about  twelve,  and  handed  you  the 


124 

song  ;  you  read  it  carefully,  with  running  comments,  and 
stated  what  you  purposed  doing  with  it  when  you  reached 
London;"  "I  did  nothing  of  the  sort,"  replied  Mason, 
"and  I  really  think,  Mr.  S.,  you  are  carrying  the  joke  too 
far  ;"  "I  have  no  disposition,  Mr.  Mason,"  replied  S.,  "to 
carry  a  joke  an  unnecessary  distance,  but  I  have  now  a 
distinct  recollection  that  after  reading  it,  you  folded  it  up 
and  put  it  in  the  side  pocket  of  the  coat  you  now  have  on." 
Instantly  he  ran  his  hand  into  the  pocket,  and  lo!  it  was 
there  ;  looking  alternately  at  the  paper,  Mr.  Moore  and 
S.,  he  turned  to  S.  and  quietly  remarked,  "  I'll  he  d — d  if 
I  drink  any  more  punch  of  your  brewing  ;"  nor  did  he,  for 
in  a  few  minutes  after,  an  agent  of  Mr.  Seward's,  a  Mr. 
Webster,  came  in  and  informed  him  and  Mr.  Slidell  that 
a  boat  was  at  the  wharf,  waiting  for  them,  and  they  must 
depart  instantly. 

Slidell  replied  he  was  not  ready,  and  would  require  two 
or  three  hours  to  pack  up  ;  Webster  insisted  that  the  boat 
was  waiting  and  they  must  go  within  thirty  minutes  ; 
Slidell,  who  was  not  particularly  amiable  at  being  thrust 
out  of  the  Fort  in  this  unceremonious  manner,  and  withal 
had  been  sick  for  several  days,  replied  in  language  more 
forcible  than  chaste  that  he  would  not  go  until  he  was 
ready,  nor  did  he,  for  it  was  nearly  twelve  o'clock  when 
they  departed.  Colonel  Dimick  particularly  requested 
that  no  demonstration  should  be  made  on  their  departure, 
and  that  none  of  the  gentlemen  should  go  on  the  ramparts 
to  see  them  off;  their  immediate  friends  took  leave  of  them 
in  their  room,  and  the  prisoners  generally  ranged  them- 
selves on  each  side  of  the  sally-port  and  uncovered  as  they 
passed  out.  I  understood  during  the  day  from  one  of  the 
officers  that  they  were  taken  away  in  one  of  the  small  har- 
bor tug  boats,  and  as  the  boat  went  straight  out  to  sea  it 
must  be  to  put  them  on  board  of  some  British  ship  in  the 
offing  ;  as  there  was  a  strong  gale  of  wind,  with  a  heavy 
sea  running,  they  must  have  had  an  uncomfortable  time.* 

*  We  learned  a  day  or  two  after  that  they  were  put  on  board  an  English 
steamer  forty  miles  from  the  Fort,  about  two  hours  before  the  gale  com- 


125 

Occupied  the  balance  of  the  morning  in  collecting  the 
mess  dues  for  the  week,  and  preparing  the  accounts  to 
hand  over  to  my  successor,  Mr.  Green,  of  Savannah,  who 
has  agreed  to  undertake  that  troublesome .  task.  Our 
"sanctum,"  as  Commodore  Barron  terms  it,  I  have  handed 
over,  with  all  my  bedding  and  furniture,  to  Mr.  Green, 
after  consulting  with  the  Commodore,  who  accepts  him  as 
a  room  mate,  with  the  proviso,  however,  that  should  I 
return,  he  will  vacate  it. 

In  the  afternoon,  by  special  permit,  took  a  walk  round 
the  ramparts  for  the  second  and  last  time.  Spent  the 
evening  packing  up  and  preparing  to  leave. 

In  leaving  this  Fort,  it  is,  perhaps,  proper  to  say,  that 
we  have  experienced  none  of  the  brutal  treatment  which 
characterised  the  officers  and  soldiers  at  Fort  LaFayette  ; 
while  we  were  thrown  entirely  on  our  own  resources  and 
subjected  to  strict  discipline,  there  was  no  harshness  or 
rudeness  exhibited  towards  us ;  in  no  instance  did  I  receive 
an  unkind  word  from  any  officer  or  soldier.  I  was  com- 
pelled, from  my  mess  duties,  to  come  more  in  contact  with 
the  soldiers  than  any  other  prisoner,  and  uniformly  found 
them  civil ;  I  suppose  I  asked  over  a  hundred  what  induced 
them  to  enlist  in  the  army  ;  the  answer  invariably  was,  I 
am  a  mechanic,  with  a  family  and  without  employment, 
and  was  driven  to  it  by  necessity  ;  very  few  of  them  were 
foreigners,  and  although  they  probably  will  fight  if  driven 
to  it,  they  have  no  heart  in  the  contest, — they  enlisted  to 
live  and  not  to  die. 

JANUARY  2.  Up  early,  and  occupied  the  morning  in 
packing  up  and  taking  leave  of  my  companions.  Terrible 

menced.  The  steamer  was  bound  for  Halifax,  and  as  nothing  was  heard 
of  them  for  two  weeks,  great  apprehensions  was  entertained  for  their 
safety.  We  subsequently  learned  that  the  vessel  after  battling  with  the 
storm  for  several  days,  with  many  of  her  crew  frost-bitten,  gave  up  the 
attempt  to  reach  Halifax  and  bore  away  for  Bermuda. 

Mr.  Mason's  predictions  were  all  realized  with  wonderful  accuracy, 
with  the  single  exception  of  the  date  of  his  arrival  in  Lond6n,  he  did  not 
reach  there  until  the  28th  January,  owing  entirely  to  the  storm,  and  con- 
sequent change  of  route  by  the  West  Indies. 


126 

storm  last  night,  seven  vessels  wrecked  on  or  about  the 
island,  much  apprehension  about  the  safety  of  Mason  and 
Slidell,  unless  they  reached  some  larger  vessel  before  night ; 
the  small  tug  could  not  possibly  have  lived  in  such  a  storm. 
Their  mode  of  surrender  was  discreditable  to  Lord  Lyons 
for  permitting  it,  and  disgraceful  to  the  American  Govern- 
ment in  the  extreme, — it  was  like  the  spiteful  and  unwill- 
ing act  of  a  whipped  child. 

Left  the  Fort  at  one  o'clock  in  company  with  Lieutenant 
Buell,  the  officer  who  has  had  special  charge  of  the  politi- 
cal prisoners,  and  who  was  visiting  Boston  for  a  day  or 
two's  holiday  ;  got  on  board  the  steam  tug  with  much 
difficulty  and  some  danger :  the  storm  was  still  so  severe 
that  the  boat  could  not  make  fast  to  the  wharf,  and  our 
only  chance  of  getting  on  board  was  to  stand  on  the  wharf, 
which  was  covered  with  ice,  holding  on  to  a  post,  as  the 
boat  would  run  past  and  spring  on  board  as  she  rose  on  the 
water,  to  our  level,  while  my  baggage  was  "pitched"  on 
the  deck,  and  a  fine  rocking  chair,  which  I  was  desirous  of 
taking  home,  came  on  board  minus  the  legs  and  rockers,— 
had  I  had  any  idea  of  the  difficulty,  I  would  certainly 
have  remained  another  day. 

Reached  Boston  at  three  o'clock,  and  went  to  the  Tre- 
mont  House  to  dinner.  I  happen  to  be  about  the  same 
size  and  the  same  general  outline  as  Marshal  Kane  ;  our 
features  are  dissimilar,  but  both  had,  at  the  time,  our  faces 
covered  with  beard, — a  few  minutes  after  I  was  seated  at 
the  table,  I  noticed  that  I  was  the  observed  of  all  observers, 
and  soon  it  was  whispered  all  over  the  dining  room  that 
the  veritable  Marshal  Kane,  the  celebrated  rebel  and  bridge- 
burner  of  Baltimore,  was  present ;  it  did  not  however  dis- 
concert me,  or  in  the  least  interfere  with  my  appetite  :  and 
having  finished  my  dinner,  I  walked  through  the  room 
with  as  much  of  dignity  as  I  could  possibly  assume,  every 
eye  being  turned  on  me  to  take  one  long  look  at  so  noto- 
rious a  character. 

After  calling  on  Dr.  Coale,  who  has  been  so  kind  to  us, 
and  settling  my  mess  account  with  him,  and  visiting 


127 

Faneuil  Hall  market  to  pay  some  bills  due  for  marketing ; 
(quite  a  crowd  gathered  round  me  in  the  market  when  it 
became  known  that  I  was  one  of  the l '  Fort  Warren  rebels/ ' ) 
I  left  Boston  at  5.30  for  New  York,  via  Fall  river. 

At  the  supper  table  on  board  the  boat,  the  negro  waiter 
who  attended  to  me,  was  unusually  polite  and  attentive  to 
my  wants :  before  rising  from  the  table  he  whispered  in 
my  ear,  that  he  hoped  Marshal  Kane  was  well ;  I  thanked 
him,  and  assured  him  he  was  in  excellent  health. 

JANUARY  3.  Did  not  reach  New  York  until  eleven 
o'clock,  in  consequence  of  the  storm  of  last  night ;  too 
late  to  connect  with  the  train  for  Baltimore  and  was 
compelled  to  remain  until  six  o'clock;  as  I  passed  over 
the  gang  way,  of  the  boat,  I  could  hear  numerous  voices 
behind  me,  "that's  Marshal  Kane,"  "that's  him,"  there 
he  goes,"  my  negro  friend  had  evidently  spread  the 
news ; — after  telegraphing  home  that  they  might  expect 
me  in  the  morning  at  five  o'clock,  I  called  on  Mr.  McMas- 
ters,  editor  of  the  Freeman's  Journal,  and  Mr.  Sullivan, 
the  counsel  for  the  privateersinen,  who  were  my  companions 
at  Fort  LaFayette,  and  spent  two  or  three  hours  going 
round  with  them  ;  was  surprised  at  the  freedom  of  speech 
every  where  we  went,  perhaps  our  visits  were  confined  to 
one  class  of  people  ;  at  three  dined  with  Cranston  at  the 
New  York  hotel,  who  sent  us  so  many  good  things  at  Fort 
LaFayette  and  Fort  Warren ;  after  leaving  the  hotel, 
found  myself  dogged  by  a  couple  of  villainous  looking 
detectives,  faces  half  bully  and  half  sneak ;  go  where  I 
would,  those  fellows  were  behind  me ;  in  the  coffee  room  at 
the  depot,  in  the  ticket  office,  while  getting  my  baggage 
checked,  there  they  were — finally  in  the  cabin  of  the  ferry- 
boat, finding  I  could  not  get  rid  of  them,  and  their 
action  was  attracting  notice  towards  me,  I  went  deliber- 
ately up  to  them  and  stared  them  out  of  the  cabin. 

Came  through  without  stopping,  reached  home  at  five 
o'clock  and  found  my  wife  and  daughters  up,  and  awaiting 
my  arrival,  and  a  nice  warm  breakfast  ready,  which,  sur- 


128 

rounded  by  my  family,  was  the  sweetest  meal  I  had  eaten 
for  months. 

It  only  remains  to  say,  that  on  the  expiration  of  my 
parole,  through  the  action  of  some  of  my  friends,  I  was  not 
required  to  return  to  the  Fort ;  no  conditions  were  exacted 
from  me,  for  I  would  accept  of  none,  no  cause  given  for 
my  arrest  and  none  for  my  release.  In  short,  I  suppose, 
not  being  considered  a  "dangerous"  man,  I  was  simply 
turned  loose. 


APPENDIX. 


OUR  removal  from  Fort  LaFayette  on  the  30tli  of  October,  1861, 
entirely  cleared  that  place  of  prisoners,  only,  however,  to  be  refilled 
to  a  much  greater  extent,  and  in  a  few  weeks  crowded  far  beyond 
what  we  supposed  its  utmost  capacity. 

From  many  gentlemen  who  were  confined  there  through  the  follow- 
ing winter,  and  the  spring,  and  summer  of  1862,  I  have  had  state- 
ments of  their  condition  and  treatment,  showing  that  our  treatment 
there,  brutal  as  it  was,  was  humanity  compared  to  the  treatment  of 
those  who  followed  us. 

In  the  Battery  Room  where  1  was  located  with  thirty-seven  others, 
and  which  was  then  so  crowded  that  our  beds  touched,  or  at  most  a 
few  inches  between  them,  sixty-five  were  packed  during  the  winter 
and  spring,  the  other  Battery  Rooms  packed  in  the  same  proportion; 
the  small  casemate  rooms,  which  we  esteemed  over  crowded  with 
eight  occupants,  were  made  to  hold  as  high  as  eighteen,  bedsteads  had 
to  be  dispensed  with,  and  the  floors  covered  with  mattresses,  so  that 
the  inmates  could  sleep  in  common,  something  like  the  between  decks 
of  a  slave  ship;  about  eighty  of  the  prisoners,  sailors  and  privateers- 
men,  were  kept  all  the  time  in  irons,  their  legs  chained  together. 

Up  to  the  month  of  May  they  were  kept  close  prisoners  in  their 
rooms,  not  permitted  to  leave  them,  except  under  guard,  to  visit  the 
rear ;  after  sun-set  they  were  not  permitted  to  leave  their  rooms 
under  any  circumstances  whatever.  The  rations  were  inferior  in 
quality  and  quantity,  so  much  so,  that  among  the  poorer  class  of 
prisoners,  complaints  of  hunger  were  daily  and  hourlv  made ;  Mrs. 
Grelston  continued  an  angel  of  mercy  to  the  prisoners,  daily  sending 
them  food,  until  it  became  offensive  to  the  commander  and  it  was 
prohibited,  first,  except  in  cases  of  sickness,  but  soon  after  totally; 


130 

on  entering  and  leaving  the  Fort  they  were  stripped  and  searched, 
their  money,  watches  and  pocket  knives  taken  from  them ;  during  the 
winter  they  suffered  much  from  the  very  limited  supply  of  fuel. 

But  all  this  was  humanity  compared  to  the  treatment  of  a  few 
prisoners  who  were  specially  obnoxious  to  the  Government;  Colonel 
Zarvona,  Dr.  Edson  B.  Olds,  of  Ohio,  Pierre  Soule  and  Mr.  Messereaux, 
of  Louisiana,  who  were  confined  in  separate  rooms,  or  dungeons  they 
might  be  called,  although  above  ground.  The  first  three  or  four 
weeks  of  Dr.  Old's  imprisonment  was  in  solitary  confinement,  not 
permitted  for  any  purpose  to  leave  his  cell,  utterly  denied  the  use  of 
pens  and  paper,  of  newspapers  or  books  of  any  description,  even  to 
the  refusal  of  a  Bible  when  he  applied  for  it :  not  permitted  to  have 
light  in  his  cell :  the  greater  portion  of  the  time  he  was  ill  with  the 
Bloody  Flux,  and  was  even  refused  waste  paper.  I  am  aware  these 
details  are  disgusting,  still  they  form  a  part  of  the  history  of  the 
times.  Some  of  the  prisoners  noticing  that  the  food  which  was  taken 
into  Dr.  Old's  cell,  came  out  untouched,  supposed  the  inmate  (they 
did  not  know  who)  was  sick  and  unable  to  eat  the  army  rations,  and 
requested  permission  of  Lieutenant  Wood  to  send  the  sick  man  some 
other  food,  which  was  refused. 

The  treatment  of  Zarvona  is  probably  the  same,  none  of  the  prison- 
ers ever  saw  him,  and  he  still  remains  there.  Soule  and  Messereaux 
received  the  same  treatment  except  shortly  before  they  were  released, 
it  was  so  far  modified  as  to  permit  them  to  receive  newspapers,  and 
visit  the  rear  under  a  guard,  at  which  time  all  other  prisoners  must 
be  in  their  rooms. 

On  two  occasions,  the  draft  from  the  chimney  leading  to  the  quar- 
ters above,  became  reversed,  throwing  the  whole  of  the  smoke  into 
Zarvona's  room ;  his  noise  induced  the  sentinel  to  open  the  door, 
after  calling  the  Sergeant  of  the  Guard;  the  soldiers  on  entering  the 
room  immediately  retreated,  stifled  from  the  smoke ;  the  door  had  to 
be  left  open  for  fifteen  minutes,  and  the  other  prisoners  were  driven 
to  their  rooms  to  prevent  them  from  seeing  him. 

Lieut.  Wood,  suspecting  he  had  found  means  to  communicate  with 
the  other  prisoners,  laid  a  trap  to  ascertain  if  it  were  so.  Dressing 
one  of  the  soldiers  of  the  same  size,  in  Zarvona's  clothes,  Zarvona 
was  removed  from  his  cell  at  night,  and  the  soldier  substituted,  with 
instructions  how  to  act.  Next  morning,  one  of  the  prisoners,  Mr. 
Cecil,  in  passing  the  cell,  was  attracted  by  a  noise  from  the  window, 
and  a  piece  of  paper  tied  to  a  nail  was  thrown  out ;  unconsciously  he 
stooped  to  pick  it  up,  and  was  immediately  seized  and  conveyed  to  a 


131 

dungeon  cell,  six  by  three  feet,  where  a  ray  of  light  never  penetrated, 
and  kept  there  for  seven  weeks ;  his  fellow-prisoners  could  scarcely 
recognise  him,  when  he  re-appeared  at  the  end  of  that  time,  so  hag- 
gard and  emaciated  had  he  become.  The  reason  assigned  by  Lieut. 
Wood  to  the  other  prisoners  for  his  brutality  towards  Zarvona  was 
that  he  had  attempted  to  make  his  escape.  It  is  true  he  did  make 
the  attempt,  but  it  was  nearly  two  months  after  he  had  been  placed 
in  close  confinement,  and  when  it  is  known  that  the  night  on  which 
he  made  the  attempt  was  very  cold,  that  the  tide  runs  like  a  mill- 
race  between  the  island  and  the  main-land,  and  that  should  he  have 
escaped  the  fire  of  the  sentinels,  he  would  almost  certainly  been  chilled 
to  death  by  the  water,  or  carried  out  to  sea  by  the  tide,  and  as  his 
friends  say,  is  unable  to  swim,  it  will  readily  be  seen  that  nothing  but 
insanity,  or  desperation  caused  by  his  barbarous  treatment  could  have 
induced  him  to  make  the  attempt. 

Lieut.  Wood,  in  answer  to  an  enquiry  recently  made  by  a  commit- 
tee of  the  Senate,  states  that  Zarvona  is  confined  in  a  room  25  feet 
long  by  15  wide,  lighted  by  three  windows,  only  one  of  which  is  closed. 
This  is  not  correct.  The  room,  which  I  measured  myself,  is  less 
than  14  by  22  feet,  with  an  arched  ceiling,  5  feet  high  at  the  spring 
of  the  arch,  and  8  feet  in  the  centre,  has  one  door  and  one  window, 
facing  the  interior  of  the  Fort,  which  were  kept  solidly  closed,  and 
two  narrow  slits  in  the  wall  facing  the  sea.  When  the  front  door 
and  window  was  closed,  it  was  impossible  to  read  or  write  in  the  day 
time  without  candles. 


AFTER  leaving  Fort  Warren,  according  to  the  accounts  of  my  com- 
panions who  remained,  every  thing  went  on  as  usual.  In  February, 
the  North  Carolina  prisoners  were  exchanged,  with  the  exception  of 
Commodore  Barron  and  a  few  naval  officers.  The  prisoners  were  con- 
gratulating themselves  on  the  increased  accommodation  by  their  depar- 
ture, when  a  fresh  arrival  of  nearly  two  hundred  officers  taken  at 
Fort  Donaldson,  crowded  them  more  than  ever. 


132 

The  new  arrivals  experienced  the  same  kind  and  humane  treatment 
from  Colonel  Dimick  which  had  previously  marked  his  character,  with 
the  exception  of  Major  General  Buckner  and  Brigadier  General 
Tilghman,  who  were,  by  special  orders  from  Washington,  placed  in 
solitary  confinement,  where  they  remained  during  their  whole  imprison- 
ment. 

All  the  prisoners  of  war  were  exchanged  and  left  the  Fort  the  latter 
part  of  July — a  portion  of  the  political  prisoners  had  been  discharged 
in  May,  on  various  conditions,  and  but  fourteen  now  remained ;  of 
these,  some  had  been  offered  a  release  on  parole  which  was  indignantly 
refused,  others  were  esteemed  too  dangerous  to  be  released  on  any 
terms. 

The  liberty  of  the  island  was  now  given  them  on  parole,  and  as 
time  passed  on,  the  garrison,  impressed  by  their  manly  bearing, 
learned  to  treat  them  with  much  respect.  Even  the  Boston  Journals 
ceased  to  speak  of  them  as  "  Miserable  Rebels,"  "  Deluded  Traitors," 
"  Misguided  Wretches,"  but  as  men  whose  calm  fortitude  and  stern  deter- 
mination to  suffer  rather  than  surrender  a  principle,  entitled  them  to 
sympathy  and  regard,  even  from  those  who  differed  from  them. 

This  change  of  feeling,  going  on  through  all  the  Northern  States, 
partly  the  effects  of  returning  reason,  and  partly  the  wide-spread  feel- 
ing, that  no  man,  having  public  or  private  enemies,  could  feel  assured, 
on  retiring  at  night,  that  the  morrow's  sun  might  not  find  him  in  a 
Fortress  or  a  filthy  Jail,  finally  developed  itself  in  the  Fall  Elections 
in  such  an  unmistakeable  form,  that  the  Government  was  forced  to 
relax  its  policy,  and  in  the  month  of  November,  general  orders  were 
issued  to  release  all  the  State  Prisoners,  against  whom  no  specific 
charge  existed ;  still  the  feeling  against  the  Maryland  Prisoners  was 
yet  so  strong  at  Washington,  kept  up  in  all  probability  by  the  Plug 
Ugly  Junta  in  Baltimore,  that  special  orders  were  sent  to  Col.  Dimick 
not  to  release  any  of  his  prisoners  under  the  general  order,  and  the 
probability  is  that  those  gentlemen  would  have  remained  at  Fort  War- 
ren, but  (as  I  am  informed)  for  the  interference  and  strong  protests  of 
Mr.  Blair,  the  Post  Master  General,  who  had  always  regarded  with 
disfavor,  the  arrest,  and  particularly  the  long  continued  imprisonment 
of  the  Maryland  prisoners,  and  insisted  on  their  unconditional  release, 
which  he  succeeded  in  effecting  after  a  strong  effort. 


133 


It  may  be  interesting  to  know  how  "State  Prisoners"  are  cared 
for  in  the  Bastiles  of  the  West;  they  exist  in  every  State,  and  proba- 
bly vary  but  little  in  their  management.  The  one  at  Camp  Chase, 
Columbus,  Ohio,  is  thus  described  by  a  "  Loyal"  Editor  who  writes 
on  the  spot : 

HORRIBLE  DISCLOSURES  IN  RELATION  TO  A 
POLITICAL  PRISON. 

We  speak  wholly  of  the  political  prison,  the  prison  of  State,  as  we 
know  nothing  whatever  of  what  occurs  in  the  prison  where  *  rebels 
taken  in  arms"  are  kept — that  is,  "  the  prisoners  of  war/' 

It  must  not  be  forgotten  that  there  have  been  from  six  to  seven 
hundred  political  prisoners  at  Camp  Chase  at  a  time ;  and  although 
several  hundred  have  been  lately  discharged  without  trial,  there  are 
yet  some  four  hundred — one  or  two  hundred  of  these  have  arrived 
there  within  a  few  days  past  from  Kentucky  and  Western  Virginia, 
These  men  are  taken  from  their  homes,  some  from  their  beds  at 
night,  some  from  their  houses  in  day-time,  and  a  great  many  of  them 
are  picked  up  in  their  fields  at  work,  and  never  suffered  to  see  their 
families  before  being  spirited  off  to  Ohio  and  incarcerated  in  the  cele- 
brated Bastile,  which  will  soon  be  as  famous  as  Olmutz  itself. 

Our  Ohioans  are  put  into  the  same  prison  with  these  men  from 
other  States,  and  from  them  we  have  learned  some  facts  which  the 
people  of  Ohio  ought  to  know.  Many  of  these  men  have  been  kept 
in  this  prison  for  over  one  year,  a  great  many  for  five,  six,  seven  and 
eight  months,  without  even  seeing  outside,  or  being  allowed  to  com- 
municate personally  with  any  one,  not  even  wife,  child,  father, 
mother,  or  stranger. 

They  are  furnished  with  nothing  but  a  single  blanket,  even  these 
cold  nights,  unless  they  are  able  to  purchase  additional  comforts  with 
money  they  may  be  able  to  command.  Many  are  poor  men,  and  una- 
ble to  purchase ;  they  were  not  permitted  to  bring  along  a  change  of 
clothing,  and  many  had  on  when  seized  nothing  but  summer  wear, 
and  that  has  become  filthy,  worn  out,  and  scarcely  hangs  upon  their 
backs. 

They  have  no  bedding,  and  therefore  are  compelled  to  sleep  on 
bare  boards.  They  have  not  enough  wood  furnished  to  keep  fires  up 
all  night,  and  hence  the  suffering  is  intensified  by  the  cold  weather. 
If  they  attempt,  after  night,  to  walk  out  in  the  yard  to  take  off  the 
chills  of  the  dreary  night,  they  are  instantly  threatened  to  be  shot  by 
the  guards,  as  ordered  by  those  in  command. 


134 

Dr.  Allen,  of  Columbia  county,  Ohio,  said  he  laid  on  a  bare  board 
until  his  hips  were  black  and  blue.  The  wood  furnished  them  is 
four  feet  long,  and  they  are  compelled,  each  mess  to  chop  it  up  for 
themselves,  and,  the  provisions  being  furnished  raw,  they  have  to 
cook  for  themselves.  .Recollect,  always,  that  these  are  political  pris- 
oners, against  whom  no  one  appears  as  accuser,  and  no  trial  is  per- 
mitted. 

The  prison  has  become  filthy — awfully  so — and  the  rats  are  in 
droves.  If  the  prisoners  attempt  to  kill  one  of  these  rats  they  are 
forbidden,  and  threatened  with  being  shot  instantly.  Recollect, 
always,  as  we  said  above,  these  are  political  prisoners,  against  whom 
some  malicious  negro-worshipper  has  created  a  suspicion  of  disloyalty, 
but  whose  name  is  kept  a  secret,  and  hence  there  can  be  no  trial. 

The  prison  is  perfectly  alive  with  lice  and  no  chance  is  given  to 
escape  the  living  vermin.  A  dead  man,  one  of  the  prisoners,  was  the 
other  day  carried  out  to  the  dead  yard,  and  laid  there  over  night,  and 
when  visited  in  the  morning  by  other  prisoners,  who  heard  there  was 
a  dead  man  there,  they  found  the  hair  on  his  head  stiff  with  lice  and 
nits — the  lice  creeping  into  his  eyes  in  great  numbers,  and,  as  he  lay 
with  his  mouth  open,  the  lice  were  thick  crawling  in  and  out  of  his 
open  mouth. 

Not  long  since  two  of  the  prisoners  got  into  a  scuffle  in  trying 
their  strength,  and  finally  into  a  fight,  as  was  supposed ;  and  several 
other  persons  rushed  to  part  them,  when  the  guards  from  the  look 
out  above  fired  on  them,  killing  an  old  man  by  the  name  of  Jones, 
from  Western  Virginia,  and  the  ball  grazing  the  skull  of  another;  he 
fell,  and  it  was  supposed  at  first  he  was  killed,  also;  another  of  the 
balls  passed  through  a  board  at  the  head  of  a  sick  man  in  the  hospi- 
tal, and  only  escaped  him  by  a  few  inches.  The  two  men  in  the 
scuffle  were  not  hurt. 

We  might  go  further,  but  God  knows  this  is  far  enough  for  once. 
It  is  enough  to  make  one's  blood  run  cold  to  think  of  it. 

Now,  if  any  one  doubts  this — if  the  authorities  at  camp  or  at  the 
State  House  doubt  it,  if  the  Legislature,  when  it  meets,  will  raise  a 
committee,  we  promise  to  name  the  witnesses  who,  if  sent  for,  under 
oath,  prove  all  this,  and  as  much  more,  some  of  which  is  too  indecent 
to  print  in  a  newspaper  for  the  public  ear. 

We  do  not  bring  these  things  to  light  for  any  other  purpose  than 
an  act  of  humanity,  of  respect  for  the  fair  fame  of  Ohio,  and  to  direct 
public  attention  to  them  that  the  brutal  authorities  of  that  camp  may 
have  justice  done  them.  The  commandant  of  the  camp  is  himself  a 
member  of  the  Ohio  House  of  Representatives.  He  will  no  doubt 
appear  on  1st  Monday  of  January  to  take  his  seat.  Let  him  answer 
to  his  compeers  on  that  floor — let  him  answer  to  his  constituents  who 
elected  him — let  him  answer  to  the  whole  people  of  Ohio,  if  he  dare, 
whether  these  things  are  so  or  not.  Heaven  be  blessed  if  any  modi- 
fication can  be  put  upon  these  transactions — any  excuse  of  the  most 
trivial  nature,  by  which  the  fame  of  Ohio  may  be  vindicated  from 
the  crime  and  stigma  which  otherwise  must  go  down  to  all  time  upon 
the  pages  of  our  history. —  Columbus  (  Ohio)  Crisis. 


135 


COPY  OF  PROTEST  SENT  TO  WASHINGTON,  OCTOBER  8. 

[PAPER  REFERRED  TO  ON  PAGE  42.] 

FORT  LAFAYETTE,  October  8,  1861. 
His  Excellency ,  the  President  of  the  United  States: 

SIR  :  The  undersigned  prisoners  confined  in  Fort  LaFayette,  are 
compelled  to  address  you  this  protest  and  remonstrance  against  the 
inhumanity  of  their  confinement  and  treatment.  The  officers  in  com- 
mand at  Fort  Hamilton  and  this  post,  being  fully  aware  of  the 
grievances  and  privations  to  which  we  are  obliged  to  submit,  we  are 
bound,  for  humanity's  sake,  to  presume  that  they  have  no  authority 
or  means  to  redress  or  remove  them.  They,  in  fact,  assure  us  that 
they  have  not.  Our  only  recourse,  therefore,  is  to  lay  this  statement 
before  you,  in  order  that  you  may  interpose  to  prevent  our  being  any 
longer  exposed  to  them. 

The  prisoners  at  this  post  are  confined  in  four  small  casemates  and 
two  large  battery  rooms.  The  former  are  about  fourteen  feet  in 
breadth  by  twenty-four  or  thereabouts  in  length,  with  arched  ceilings 
about  eight  and  a  half  feet  high  at  the  highest  point,  the  spring  of 
the  arch  commencing  at  about  five  feet  from  the  floor.  In  each  of 
these  is  a  fire-place  and  the  floors  are  of  plank.  The  battery-rooms 
are  of  considerably  higher  pitch,  and  the  floors  are  of  brick,  and  a 
large  space  is  occupied  in  them  by  the  heavy  guns  and  gun-carriages 
of  the  batteries.  They  have  no  fire-places  or  means  of  protection 
from  cold  or  moisture,  and  the  doors  are  large,  like  those  of  a  carriage- 
house,  rendering  the  admission  of  light  impossible  without  entire 
exposure  to  the  temperature  and  weather  without.  In  one  of  the 
small  casemates,  twenty-three  prisoners  are  confined,  two-thirds  of 
them  in  irons,  without  beds,  bedding,  or  any  of  the  commonest  neces- 
sities. Their  condition  could  hardly  be  worse  if  they  were  in  a  slave 
ship,  on  the  middle  passage.  In  each  of  the  two,  out  of  the  other 
three  casemates,  ten  gentlemen  are  imprisoned ;  in  the  third  there 
are  nine,  and  a  tenth  is  allotted  to  it;  their  beds  and  necessary 
luggage  leaving  them  scarce  space  enough  to  move,  and  rendering  the 
commonest  personal  cleanliness  almost  an  impossibility.  The  doors 
are  all  fastened  from  six  or  thereabouts  in  the  evening,  until  the 
same  hour  in  the  morning,  and  with  all  the  windows  (which  are  small) 
left  open  in  all  weathers,  it  is  hardly  possible  to  sleep  in  the  foul, 
unwholesome  air.  Into  one  of  the  larger  battery-rooms  there  are 
thirty-four  prisoners  closely  crowded;  into  the  other,  thirty-five.  All 
the  doors  are  closed  for  the  same  p'eriod  as  stated  above,  and  the  only 
ventilation  is  then  from  the  embrasures,  and  so  imperfect  that  the 
atmosphere  is  oppressive  and  almost  stifling.  Even  during  the  day 
three  of  the  doors  of  one  of  these  apartments  are  kept  closed,  against 
the  remonstrances  of  the  medical  men  who  are  among  the  inmates, 
and  to  the  utter  exclusion  of  wholesome  and  necessary  light  and  air. 
In  damp  weather  all  these  unhealthy  annoyances  and  painful  discom- 
forts are  of  course  greatly  augmented,  and  when,  as  to-day,  the  prison- 


136 

ers  are  compelled  by  rain  to  continue  within  doors,  their  situation 
becomes  almost  intolerable.  The  undersigned  do  n^t  hesitate  to  say, 
that  no  intelligent  inspector  of  prisons  can  fail  to  pronounce  their 
accommodations  as  wretchedly  deficient,  and  altogether  incompatible 
with  health :  and  it  is  obvious,  as  we  already  feel,  that  the  growing 
inclemencies  of  the  season  which  is  upon  us,  must  make  our  condi- 
tion more  and  more  nearly  unendurable.  Many  of  the  prisoners  are 
men  advanced  in  life  :  many  more  are  of  infirm  health  or  delicate  con- 
stitutions. The  greater  portion  of  them  have  been  accustomed  to  the 
reasonable  comforts  of  lite,  none  of  which  are  accessible  to  them  here, 
and  their  liability  to  illness  is,  of  course,  proportionately  greater  on 
that  account.  Many  have  already  suffered  seriously  from  indisposi- 
tion augmented  by  the  restrictions  imposed  upon  them.  A  contagious 
disease  is  now  spreading  in  one  of  the  larger  apartments,  and  the 
physicians  who  are  among  us,  are  positive  that  pome  serious  general 
disorder  must  be  the  inevitable  result,  if  our  situation  remains  unim- 
proved. The  use  of  any  but  salt  water,  except  for  drinking,  has 
been  for  some  time  altogether  denied  to  us.  The  cistern  water  itself. 
for  some  days  past,  has  been  filled  with  dirt  and  animalcules,  and  the 
supply,  even  of  that,  has  been  so  low  that  yesterday  we  were  almost 
wholly  without  drinking  water.  A  few  of  us  who  have  the  means  to 
purchase  some  trifling  necessaries,  have  been  able  to  relieve  ourselves, 
to  some  extent,  by  procuring  an  occasional,  though  greatly  inadequate, 
supply  of  fresh  water  from  the  Long  Island  side. 

It  only  remains  to  add,  that  the  fare  is  of  the  commonest  and 
coarsest  soldier's  rations,  almost  invariably  ill-prepared  and  ill-cooked. 
Some  of  us,  who  are  better  able  than  the  rest,  are  permitted  to  take 
our  meals  at  a  private  mess,  supplied  by  the  wife  of  the  Ordnance 
Sergeant,  for  which  we  pay  at  the  rate  of  a  dollar  per  day,  from  our 
own  funds.  Those  who  are  less  fortunate,  are  compelled  to  submit  to 
a  diet  so  bad  and  unusual,  as  to  be  seriously  prejudicial  to  their  health. 

The  undersigned  have  entered  into  these  partial  details,  because 
they  cannot  believe  that  it  is  the  purpose  of  the  Government  to 
destroy  their  health,  or  sacrifice  their  lives,  by  visiting  them  with 
such  cruel  hardships,  and  they  will  hope,  unless  forced  to  a  contrary 
conclusion,  that  it  can  only  be  necessary  to  present  the  facts  to  you, 
plainly,  in  order  to  secure  the  necessary  relief.  We  desire  to  say 
nothing,  here,  in  regard  to  the  justice  or  injustice  of  our  imprison- 
ment, but  we  respectfully  insist  upon  our  right  to  be  treated  with 
decency  and  common  humanity,  so  long  as  the  Government  sees  fit  to 
confine  us. 

Commending  the  matter  to  your  earliest  consideration  and  prompt 
interference,  we  are  your  obedient  servants. 

This  paper  was  signed  by  about  eighty  of  the  prisoners,  and  Lieu- 
tenant Wood  informed  us  it  was  sent  to  Washington.  Some  of  the 
prisoners  refused  to  sign  it  on  the  ground  that  the  facts  were  too 
tamely  stated,  and  others,  that  it  might  be  construed  into  a  petition, 
as  it  subsequently  was.  No  notice,  as  far  as  I  know,  was  ever  taken 
of  it  at  Washington. 


FACTS   FOR  THE  PEOPLE! 


THIRD    EDITION    NOW    READY!! 

FOURTEEN    MONTHS 


AMERICAN 

BY    F.    K.    HOWAKD,   ESQ. 

PRICE     25     CENTS. 

The  FIRST  and  SECOND  EDITIONS  of  this  work  being  sold  out,  the 
Publishers  have  now  ready  the  THIRD  EDITION.  The  narrative 
is  one  of  intense  interest,  and  should  be  in  the  hands  of  every  lover 
and  defender  of  natural  as  well  as  Constitutional  rights. 

THE  "SOUTHERN  RIGHTS"  AND  "UNION"  PAR- 
ties  in  Maryland,  Contrasted  ...............................  .  ........  lOc. 

THE  DUAL  REVOLUTIONS,  ANTI-SLAVERY  AND  PRO- 
Slavery,  by  S.  M.  Johnson  ..........................................  15c. 

CORRESPONDENCE  BETWEEN  S.  T.  WALLIS,  ESQ., 
of  Baltimore,  and  Hon.  John  Sherman  of  the  U.  S.  Senate, 
concerning  the  arrest  of  the  members  of  the  Maryland  Legis- 
lature, and  the  Mayor  and  Police  Commissioners  of  Baltimore,  lOc 

LECTURE  OF  T.  PARKIN  SCOTT,  ESQ.,  ON  "  AU- 
thority  and  Free-  Will."  Delivered  before  the  Catholic  Insti- 
tute of  Baltimore  ......................................................  lOc. 

Any  of  the  above  sent  free  by  mail,  on  receipt  of  prin  . 

KELLY,  HEDIAN  &  PIET, 

Publishers,   Baltimore. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  ILLINOIS  URBANA 
973.77SA5B  C002 

THE  BASTILES  OF  THE  NORTH  BALTIMORE 


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" 


